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THE 



GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE 



OF THE STATE OF 



ALABAMA 



BY 

THOMAS C. McCORVEY, A. M., LL. B. 

Professor of History and Philosophy, University of Alabama 





PHILADELPHIA 

Eldredge & Brother 

No. 17 North Seventh Street 
1895 






— ..o^o»- 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by 

ELDEEDGE & BROTHER, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

«o^o» 



*- 



-* 



WESTCOTT & THOMSON, 
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. 




The growing demand for instruction in Civics was emphasized 
by the recommendation of the Governor of Alabama, in his special 
message on educational matters to the General Assembly at its 
last session, that " the Constitutions — State and Federal — be 
made a branch of study in our public schools." This little vol- 
ume has been prepared as a text-book for this instruction, so far 
as the civil government of Alabama is concerned, and its aim is 
to give briefly and clearly the leading facts in the civic history of 
the State as well as the present workings of the governmental 
machinery. Like all school books, its usefulness must depend in 
a large measure upon the way in which it is supplemented by the 
work of the living teacher. To the teachers of Alabama, there- 
fore, I commit it with the hope that they may make it effective in 
fostering in the youth of the State a just conception of the duties 
and responsibilities of citizenship. 

While an enumeration of all the authorities consulted would be 
entirely out of proportion to the little book itself, I wish to make 
here an acknowledgment of my indebtedness, chiefly in the first 
two chapters, to the works of Albert J. Pickett, Alexander B. 
Meek, Willis Brewer, and Hannis Taylor, and to such of the re- 
cent writings of Grace King and of John Fiske as touch upon the 
early history of the territory now embraced in the State of Ala- 
bama. I am also indebted to Professor W. S. Wyman's paper on 
"The First European Settlement in Alabama," printed in the 
Proceedings of the Alabama Educational Association for 1893, and 
to a sketch of the " Origin and Early Growth of Mobile," published 
in the Diamond edition of the Mobile Daily Register, January 31, 
1895. 

My thanks are due and are hereby cordially tendered to Presi- 
dent Kichard C. Jones and Professor Benjamin F. Meek, of the 
University of Alabama, for helpful criticisms and for patient aid 
in reading the proofs. 

T. C. McC. 

University of Alabama, 
August, 1895. 

iii 




CHAPTER , PAGE 

I. French, English, and Spanish Government in what is 

now Alabama 5 

II. Territorial Government in Alabama 16 

III. The State Government of Alabama in the Past . . 25 

IV. The Present State Government of Alabama .... 35 
V. Local Government in Alabama 55 

VI. How Officers are Chosen by the Electors 69 

The Constitution of the State 79 

Appendix 122 

Index 127 



ILLUSTEATIONS. 

The Flag of Alabama Frontispiece. 

Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville 5 

Governor William C. C. Claiborne 16 

Map showing Formation of Alabama 20 

Governor George S. Houston 25 

The Great Seal of Alabama 35 

Capitol Building at Montgomery 39 






Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. 



ALABAMA. 



5^C 



CHAPTER I. 

FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND SPANISH GOVERNMENT IN 
WHAT IS NOW ALABAMA. 

Spanish Exploration. 
1. The territory now embraced in the State of Alabama 
was first explored in 1540 by the Spanish adventurer, Her- 
nando De Soto, upon whom the title of Adelantado, which 
combined military and civil command, had been conferred 
by the emperor Charles V. Earlier Spanish voyagers had 
ascended Mobile Bay, and it is possible that scouting par- 
ties of the expedition of Pamphilo de Narvacz, in 1528, 



6 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

may have touched what is now the south-eastern border 
of the State, along the line which separates it from Flor- 
ida; but of this we can have no certain knowledge. 

2. On May 12, 1539, De Soto, holding his commission 
as governor and captain-general for life of Florida, as well 
as of the island of Cuba, set sail from Havana on the ill- 
starred expedition which he had planned for the " con- 
quest of Florida." It must be understood that what the 
Spaniards then called Florida included not only the penin- 
sula and State which we now know by that name, but all 
the Spanish claims in America extending indefinitely 
northward and sweeping from the confines of Mexico to 
Nova Scotia. On the 25th of May De Soto arrived at the 
mouth of Tampa Bay, which he named the bay of Espiritu 
Santo, He soon afterward landed and took possession of 
the country in the name of the Spanish monarch. His 
force consisted of about six hundred men, including sol- 
diers, priests, artisans, and ' ■ men of science," thoroughly 
equipped in every way for the perilous adventure of ex- 
ploring and conquering an unknown land. 

3. De Soto had been a lieutenant of Pizarro in the con- 
quest of Peru, and his expedition to Florida had been 
planned with the expectation of finding in this unexplored 
region something of the wealth in gold and silver that had 
rewarded the Spanish conquerors in Mexico and South 
America. It was primarily a quest for gold, although the 
glory of conquest and the conversion of the heathen were 
also motives that appealed alike to the Adelantado and his 
followers. 

4. De Soto commenced his march from Tampa north- 
ward up the peninsula. The Indian tribes along the route 
offered, at different times, a desperate resistance; but the 
Spanish cavaliers, protected by armor and mounted upon 
horses — animals which the natives had never before seen — 
were almost proof against the arrows and other missiles 
of their assailants, and they steadily bore down all oppo- 



SPANISH EXPLORATION. 7 

sition. De Soto spent five months in winter quarters in 
the neighborhood of the present city of Tallahassee, Flor- 
ida. Resuming his march in the early spring of 1540, he 
traversed what is now the State of Georgia ; and from the 
hilly country of the Cherokees, whither he was drawn in 
his search for gold, he passed into the valley of the Coosa 
river in w r hat is now Alabama. 

5. From the Coosa region, De Soto proceeded down the 
valley of the Alabama river toward its junction with the 
Tombigbee. Somewhere above this junction on the north- 
western bank of the Alabama, 1 he fought the great battle 
of Mauvila with the mighty Indian chief Tuscaloosa, the 
first battle upon Alabama soil of which we have any 
record. The battle was won by the Spanish invaders, but 
it was well-nigh as disastrous to the victors as to the van- 
quished ; for, in addition to the heavy loss of men and 
horses, many of the equipments necessary to a successful 
prosecution of the enterprise were destroyed in the burn- 
ing of Mauvila. 

6. From Mauvila De Soto turned his course to the north- 
west and crossed the Warrior river somewhere between the 
present cities of Tuscaloosa and Demopolis — possibly near 
the village of Carthage, the site of noted Indian mounds, 
which some authorities identify with the " Cabusto " of the 
Spanish narratives. From that point De Soto marched 
into the country of the Chickasaw Indians, in what is now 
northern Mississippi. With the remainder of this unfor- 
tunate expedition, which did nothing more than to lift for 
a while the curtain of history upon the South-west, it is 
not the purpose of this sketch to deal. It is sufficient to 
note here that De Soto had exercised the military, if not 
the civil, functions of Adelantado for a few brief months 
upon what is now the soil of Alabama before he passed 
on to the exploration of the then unknown lands to the 

1 Pickett says at Choctaw Bluff. 



8 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

west. Long before England had determined to follow up 
the voyages of the Cabots with colonizing projects, before 
the Pilgrims had left their English homes for Holland, 
even long before Raleigh had sent out his ill-fated expedi- 
tions to what is now the coast of Carolina, Spanish cava- 
liers had trooped across Alabama's hills and plains in 
their vain search for gold, awing the natives with the 
power of European civilization and government. 

French Exploration and Settlement. 

7. After the expedition of De Soto, the territory now 
embraced in Alabama dropped back into the darkness of 
aboriginal life until another European power appeared not 
only as an explorer, but as a colonizer in the South-west. 
In 1682, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, the French explorer, 
worked his way, slowly and painfully, from the Lake re- 
gion down the Mississippi, and at the mouth of that great 
river took possession of the valleys drained by it and its 
tributaries in the name of the Grand Monarque, Louis 
XIV., " King of France and of Navarre." Standing by 
the column which he had erected at the mouth of the 
river, La Salle proclaimed the sovereignty of the French 
king over " this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, 
ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, peo- 
ples, provinces, towns, cities, villages, mines, minerals, 
fisheries, streams, and rivers within the extent of the 
said territory of Louisiana .... from the great river's 
source as far as its mouth at the sea or the Gulf of 
Mexico." 

8. The French territory of Louisiana was thus as vaguely 
bounded as the Florida of the Spaniards ; but the French 
were not long in asserting practically their claims to that 
region now embraced in Alabama. Of course the French 
claim overlapped the Spanish in this territory, and before 
many years another European power, England, was to 
assert her claim to the same region. It is not necessary 



FRENCH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT. 9 

to speak here of the misfortunes that attended La Salle's 
attempt at colonization, nor of his tragic death, in 1687. 
in the wilds of Texas. The Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, left 
the French king free to carry out the plans of La Salle 
for the occupation and colonization of Louisiana. The 
man selected to command the enterprise was Pierre Le- 
Moyne d'Iberville, a Canadian soldier, who, on account 
of, his native ability as well as his varied experience in 
New-World warfare, was well fitted for the responsibilities 
of the position. 

9. Iberville set sail with his expedition from the harbor 
of Brest in October, 1698. Having touched at St. Do- 
mingo for supplies of food and fresh water, he sailed from 
there through the Yucatan channel, thence northward 
across the Gulf of Mexico, and he would have made a 
lodgement somewhere on Pensacola Bay, had he hot found 
it already in the possession of the Spaniards. From Pen- 
sacola he sailed westward until he touched Dauphin 
Island, which he named Massacre Island, at the mouth 
of Mobile Bay. He then proceeded to Ship Island at the 
mouth of Pascagoula river, and finally settled his colony, 
in 1699, on the north-east shore of the Bay of Biloxi. 
There he built a fort, " as a symbol of French jurisdiction 
that was to be asserted from the Bay of Pensacola on the 
east to the Rio del Norte on the west." Iberville returned 
to France, leaving his brother, Jean Baptiste LeMoyne de 
Bienville, in command of the colony. During a subse- 
quent absence of Iberville in 1702, Bienville was ordered 
to move the settlement to the Mobile river. Thus it came 
about that while Iberville was the founder of Louisiana, 
his brother Bienville, who was personally in charge of the 
removal from Biloxi, in what is now Mississippi, to the 
Mobile river, in what is now Alabama, may be said to be, 
in some sense, the founder of Alabama. 

10. The site selected for the new fort and settlement 
was on the west bank of the Mobile river, twenty-five or 



10 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

thirty miles above the present city of Mobile. 1 It was 
named Fort St. Louis de la Mobile, and was the first white 
settlement in what is now Alabama. The story of its 
struggle for existence under its brave and capable young 
governor, Bienville, cannot be told here. It is enough to 
state, that owing to high water in the river and other 
threatened disasters, it was decided to move the fort 
colony to a more desirable location nearer the mouth of 
the river ; and thus it happened that the permanent set- 
tlement of the French was made in 1711, where the city 
of Mobile now stands. The fort there built was named 
by the French Fort Conde ; but it was afterwards known 
during the English and Spanish occupancy as Fort Char- 
lotte. Its site was about where the principal market, 
the court-house, and the theatre stand in the Mobile of 
to-day. 

11. In the same year that the French settlement was 
transferred from Biloxi to the Mobile River, the French 
and Spanish authorities agreed upon the Perdido River as 
the boundary between Florida and Louisiana. From this 
eastern limit of Louisiana, thus fixed upon the Gulf coast, 
it was the policy of France to draw her line of forts north- 
ward to the St. Lawrence; and, in furtherance of this 
policy. Bienville, in 1714, built Fort Toulouse, long after- 
ward known as Fort Jackson, between the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa rivers, about four miles above the junction of 
these rivers. It was already apparent that this outpost 
was necessary to protect the Indian allies of the French, 
as well as the territory claimed by the French, from the 
encroachments of the English from the Carolinas. An- 
other fort in the interior of what is now Alabama that 
owed its origin to Bienville was Fort Tombeckbee, after- 
wards Fort Confederation, which he built upon the Tom- 
bigbee river in 1736, on the occasion of his disastrous 

1 Possibly Chastang's Bluff. 



ENGLISH OCCUPANCY. 11 

campaign against the Chickasaw Indians. It is located 
in what is now Sumter county, near Epes' station. 

12. The Indians with whom the French came in con- 
tact at their different settlements in what is now Missis- 
sippi and Alabama belonged chiefly, if we except the 
Natchez tribes, to the great Maskoki stock l — the Creeks, 
the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws. Far to the north-east 
were the Cherokees, a branch of the great Iroquois stock, 
occupying a small part of what afterwards became the 
State of Alabama ; but they did not come in direct con- 
tact with the French outposts. 

13. The capital of the French province of Louisiana 
was moved from Mobile to Biloxi in 1720, and from there 
to New Orleans in 1722. The history of the province 
under its successive royal and proprietary governors, and 
their wars with the native tribes and with rival European 
powers, cannot be noticed here. We must pause, however, 
at the final struggle that was to determine whether the 
French or the English were to hold and occupy the great 
domain east of the Mississippi to the Alleghanies — whether 
to the Anglo-Saxon or to the Romano-Gallic race had been 
given the future of North America. 

English Occupancy. 
The struggle of three-quarters of a century 2 between 
the French and English colonists in America was to be 
fought to a finish in the Seven Years' War, 1755-1763, 
known in Colonial history as the French-Indian War. 
" It was no mere question of succession to distant thrones 
that was this time to wet the soil of America with the blood 
of her colonists." The struggle was for land. The first 
prize to be contended for was the rich valley of the Ohio 

1 Sometimes called the " Mobilian family." 

2 "King William's War "—1689-1697 ; "Queen Anne's War"— 
1702-1713; "King George's War" — 1744-1748 ; "French-Indian 
War"— 1754-1763. 



12 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

river, and naturally the war broke out at the gateway to 
that valley, commanded by Fort Duquesne, held by the 
French, at the junction of the Alleghany and Mononga- 
hela rivers. 

14. The war began with disaster to the English and 
Colonial forces in the memorable defeat of Braddock ; but 
it closed triumphantly for them in the capture of Quebec 
and the conquest of Canada. The planting of the cross 
of England upon the heights of Quebec was the signal for 
it to supplant the lilies of France upon the walls of Forts 
Conde, Toulouse, and Tombeckbee in what is now Ala- 
bama. By the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, France formally 
ceded to England all her territory east of the Mississippi 
river, except New Orleans and the adjacent district known 
as the Island of Orleans. At the same time Spain ceded 
to Great Britain all her claims to Florida, receiving in ex- 
change the city of Havana, Cuba, which had been seized 
by the English during the war. According to the terms 
of the Treaty of Paris, the French commandant at Mobile 
delivered Fort Conde to Major Robert Farmer, of the Eng- 
lish army, and Fort Tombeckbee was surrendered to Cap- 
tain Thomas Ford; while the Chevalier Lavnoue, com- 
manding Fort Toulouse, not being relieved by an English 
officer, spiked his guns, broke off their trunnions, and 
threw all his military stores into the Coosa river. 

15. It was by this series of events that the territory now 
embraced in Alabama, explored by the Spanish and set- 
tled by the French, passed under the government of the 
English crown. By a secret treaty, France at the same 
time ceded to Spain all her remaining territory in North 
America. Thus passed away France's dream of empire 
in the New World. The rich heritage left her by La Salle, 
Iberville, Bienville, and other explorers and colonizers had 
by the fortunes of war fallen from her grasp. 

16. After Florida and the French claims east of the 
Mississippi had passed into the hands of the English, the 



THE SPANISH CONQUEST. 13 

provinces of East and West Florida were created — the 
latter embracing a large part of what is now the States of 
Mississippi and Alabama. The northern boundary of 
West Florida, as thus organized, was the line of 32° 28', 
north latitude, extending from the mouth of the Yazoo 
River on the Mississippi east to the Chattahoochee. That 
line ran between the sites of Montgomery and Wetumpka, 
which are within fifteen miles of each other. All of the 
present state of Alabama south of that line — the section 
which corresponds very nearly to what we now loosely 
call "South Alabama" — was in the British province of 
West Florida, and all north of that line was in the British 
province of Illinois. 

17. There Avere then no European inhabitants, except a 
few traders among the Indians, in the Illinois portion. 
The capital of British West Florida was Pensacola, and 
its first British governor was Captain George Johnstone, 
of the royal navy. He organized the civil government of 
the province under military commandants and magis- 
trates. There were several unsuccessful attempts to form 
a colonial legislature in West Florida after the fashion of 
the English colonies on the Atlantic coast; but it con- 
tinued to be governed as a military province until it 
passed to Spanish control during the war of the Revo- 
lution. 

The Spanish Conquest. 

18. It must be borne in mind that the struggle for inde- 
pendence of the thirteen English colonies along the At- 
lantic seaboard found little sympathy among the inhabit- 
ants of British West Florida. The Florida provincials, 
were, in the main, loyal to the English crown ; and this is 
one of the reasons why, during and just after the Revolu- 
tionary War, not a few loyalists, or Tories, as they were 
called, from Georgia and the Carolinas, found refuge in 
what is now Alabanui. 



14 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

19. While the struggle for independence was in prog- 
ress, Spain offered her services as a mediator between 
England and her revolted colonies. The proposition was 
rejected. Spain then decided to become a party to the 
struggle herself; and in 1779 she declared war against 
England. At this time the Spanish governor of Louisiana 
was Don Bernardo Galvez, an able and ambitious soldier, 
who saw in the neighboring British province of West 
Florida an opportunity for gratifying his love of military 
glory. After some preliminary successes along the eastern 
bank of the Mississippi, he marched against Fort Char- 
lotte, at Mobile, with a force of two thousand men, and on 
the fourteenth of March, 1780, forced it to surrender. Gal- 
vez then determined upon the capture of Pensacola. Real- 
izing, however, the strength of the English position at that 
place, he went to Cuba for aid. With the reinforcements 
which he received, he effected the capture of Pensacola 
on the 9th of May, 1781. By the terms of the capitula- 
tion the whole province of West Florida was surrendered 
to Spain. Among the many honors which rewarded Galvez 
for his brilliant exploits were the title of count and promo- 
tion to the captain-generalcy of Florida and Louisiana. 

20. After the Treaty of Paris in 1783 had recognized 
the independence of the United States, the conquests of 
Galvez in Florida were confirmed. However, a contro- 
versy arose as to the northern boundary of West Florida. 
Spain claimed that it was the line of 32° 28', the limits of 
the British province, while the United States, in behalf of 
the State of Georgia, claimed, according to the treaty with 
Great Britain, that it was the line of 31°, north latitude. 
After ten years of controversy, the matter was finally set- 
tled in 1795, when Minister Pinckney succeeded in nego- 
tiating the Treaty of Madrid, wherein it was agreed that 
" the future boundary between the United States and the 
Floridas shall be the 31st parallel of north latitude from 
the Mississippi eastward to the Chattahochee river." It 



THE SPANISH CONQUEST. 15 

was thus that Georgia's claim, under her colonial charter, 
was made good to all the lands on her western frontier to 
the Mississippi river. As the " Mobile district " — the ter- 
ritory between the Pearl and Perdido rivers — lay south of 
the 31st parallel, it still continued under Spanish rule. 
How it was subsequently wrested from Spain and became 
incorporated with the Mississippi Territory — out of which 
Alabama was carved — will be told in the succeeding 
chapter. 




Governor William C. C. Claiborne. 



CHAPTER II. 
territorial government in alabama. 

The Mississippi Territory. 

21. After the settlement of the boundary between the 
United States and the Spanish province of Florida, there 
was a great influx of American settlers into the hitherto 
disputed territory — the district between the lines of 31° 
and 32° 28', stretching from the Mississippi to the Chatta- 
hoochee. It was important that some kind of civil govern- 
ment should be organized for the people. Congress, there- 
fore, with the consent of the State of Georgia, which still 
claimed the title to the land, passed an act, approved April 
7, 1798, authorizing the President to form a territorial 

16 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT IN ALABAMA. 17 

government in the ceded district, known as the Mississippi 
Territory, similar to that which had been provided for the 
North-west Territory by the famous ordinance of 1787 — a 
noteworthy difference being that slavery was not prohibited 
in the Mississippi Territory. 

22. President Adams appointed Winthrop Sargent, of 
Massachusetts, first governor of the Territory, with John 
Steele of Virginia, as secretary. Thomas Rodney of 
Delaware, and John Tilton of New Hampshire, were ap- 
pointed judges of the supreme court. These officers 
reached Natchez, the territorial capital, a few months after 
the Spaniards had withdrawn from the ceded district, and 
they found the country occupied by General James 
Wilkinson, in command of Federal troops. The governor 
proceeded at once to put the territorial government in 
force. His powers were extensive. He could appoint all 
territorial officers, except the secretary, the supreme court 
judges, and the militia generals. He could divide the 
Territory into counties ; and, acting with the judges, he 
could ordain such laws as were necessary for the govern- 
ment of the Territory — unless they were disapproved by 
Congress. 

23. By a proclamation, dated April 2, 1799, Governor 
Sargent divided the " Natchez district " into the counties 
of Adams and Pickering ; and he established county courts 
to be held quarterly by the territorial judges. On June 4, 
1800, he issued another proclamation establishing the 
county of Washington, which embraced the settlements 
along the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers — which em- 
braced, in fact, all that part of the original Mississippi 
Territory now lying in the State of Alabama. Out of the 
county of Washington there have since been carved, in 
whole or in part, twenty-nine counties in what is now 
Alabama and sixteen in what is now Mississippi. 1 

1 By act approved March 27, 1804, Congress made a judicial district 
2 



18 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

24. Dissatisfaction with the arbitrary powers of Gov- 
ernor Sargent and a considerable increase in population 
were the causes which induced Congress to complete the 
territorial government of Mississippi by a supplemental 
act, approved May 10, 1800, which provided for a terri- 
torial legislature. Representation was apportioned among 
the three counties on a basis of one representative for 
every five hundred free white males, with the result 
that Adams and Pickering had four representatives each, 
while the county of Washington had only one. These 
representatives and a legislative council, or upper house, 
of five members, appointed by the president, met in Gen- 
eral Assembly at Natchez, in December, 1800 — the first 
representative body of white men that ever met for the 
purpose of making laws for what is now a large part of 
Alabama. It was thus that Mississippi passed from a 
" first grade " to a " second grade " territory. 

25. The first governor under the new system was Wil- 
liam Charles Cole Claiborne, a native of Virginia and a 
citizen of Tennessee, who was appointed by President Jef- 
ferson. By authority of the legislature, the new governor 
moved the capital from Natchez to the village of Washing- 
ton, six miles east of the former place. It was at the last- 
mentioned capital, during the legislative session 1801-2, 
that the first regular code of laws, with forms of judicial 
proceedings, was adopted for the use of the Territory. 

26. As a settlement of controversies that had grown out 
of conflicting land claims, the State of Georgia in 1802 
ceded all the territory on her western frontier to the United 
States. This whole Georgia cession, stretching from the 
western boundary of that State to the Mississippi river, 
and embracing all the country lying between the lines of 

of the county of Washington, and President Jefferson appointed Harry 
Toulmin to the judgeship thus created. That appointment is said to 
mark the beginning of the judicial history of Alabama. — Hannis 
Taylor. 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT IN ALABAMA. 19 

31° and 35° north latitude, was bound up in the Missis- 
sippi Territory by an act of Congress approved March 
27, 1804. Within the northern boundary of the Territory 
as thus enlarged was included a strip of land about 
twelve miles wide that had been ceded to the United 
States by South Carolina in 1787. 

27. In December, 1803, William C. C. Claiborne, still 
acting as territorial governor of Mississippi, accepted — 
with General Wilkinson as a fellow commissioner — the 
formal surrender of Louisiana. That province having 
been retroceded by Spain to France by a secret treaty in 
1800, had been purchased by the United States from Napo- 
leon. Spain continued in possession of that portion of 
what is now Alabama and Mississippi lying south of the 
line 31° — the "Mobile district "—although the United 
States claimed that it had acquired by purchase the whole 
of Louisiana which belonged to France prior to 1763 — 
that is, as far east as the Perdido river. 

28. In the War of 1812, Spain became the virtual ally 
of England, and the opportunity was thus presented to 
dislodge the Spanish forces at the mouth of Mobile river. 
Accordingly General Wilkinson moved from New Orleans 
with six hundred men, and, on the 13th of April, 1813, he 
forced the Spanish garrison of Fort Charlotte to surrender. 
By an act of Congress approved May 12, 1813, the " Mo- 
bile district," thus wrested from Spain by military force, 
was annexed to the Mississippi Territory. These events 
removed the last vestige of foreign domination from what 
is now the soil of Alabama. 1 

29. In the Mississippi Territory as thus completed there 
were embraced " three distinct groups of white settlements, 
separated from each other by wide stretches of country in 
the possession of the Creek, the Choctaw, the Cherokee and 

1 On February 12, 1815, British forces captured Fort Bowyer (now 
Fort Morgan) on Mobile Point, and held it for a short time after the 
news of the Peace of Ghent had come across the Atlantic. 



20 



THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 



the Chickasaw Indians." These settlements were the Nat- 
chez district, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi ; the 
Tombigbee settlements, including the "Mobile district"; 
and the settlements north of the Tennessee river. The 




Map showing successive additions to the Mississippi Territory and its 
division into the state of mississippi and the alabama territory in 1817. 

aggregate population of these three groups was about 
thirty-five thousand. 

30. The general policy of the Federal government in 
dealing with the Indians of the Mississippi Territory was 
to extinguish by purchase their titles to the land as " soon 
as it could be done peaceably and on reasonable terms." 
Agents and officials of the government succeeded, with 
more or less difficulty, in negotiating successive treaty pur- 
chases with the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, and the Chero- 
kees f but the Creek Indians, claiming the larger part of 
what is now Alabama, had to be dealt with in another way. 



1 The last reservation of the Chickasaws in Alabama was ceded in 
1832. By the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, concluded September 
27, 1830, the Choctaws made the final cession of all their lands in Ala- 
bama and Mississippi. The final treaty with the Cherokees was made 
at New Echota, December 29, 1835.— Brewer. 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT IN ALABAMA. 21 

They constituted the roost powerful tribes with which 
the white settlers had to contend. After the close of the 
Revolutionary War the Creeks had shown some hostility to 
the American settlers, but under the prudent diplomacy 
of the government at Washington their lands might ulti- 
mately have been peaceably purchased, had it not been 
for English and Spanish influence. 

31. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, it was- the 
policy of Great Britain to array the Indian tribes against 
the Americans. In pursuance of this policy, Tecumseh, 
the Shawnee chief, came southward from the lakes, preach- 
ing his war of extermination against the white settlers. He 
found eager listeners in Josiah Francis, the prophet ; Wil- 
liam Weatherford, the " Red Eagle ;' : Peter McQueen, the 
half-breed of Tallase ; and other leaders among the Creeks. 

32. The flames of the Creek War broke out at the battle 
of Burnt Corn in what is now Conecuh county ; and this 
was followed by the horrible massacre at Fort Mims, in 
Baldwin county, August 30, 1813. Scattered as were the 
white settlers, they were unable, in many instances, to 
protect themselves ; but a strong deliverer was at hand. 
Down from Tennessee came Andrew Jackson, with his 
volunteers, w T ho, with terrible energy, broke to pieces the 
Creek confederacy in the hard-fought battles of Talladega, 
Emuckfau, 1 and Tohopeka. An important result of the 
last decisive victory was the conclusion of the Treaty of 
Fort Jackson, signed August 9, 1814, by which the Creeks 
ceded to the United States all their claims to territory 
lying " west of the Coosa river and south of a line drawn 
from Wetumpka to a point on the Chattahoochee river 
below the present city of Eufaula." 2 



1 The Creek warriors claimed a victory at the battle of Emuckfau 
creek, and boasted that they had made "Captain Jackson " run. — 
Pickett. 

2 The final treaty with the Creeks by which they ceded to the United 
States all their lands east of the Mississippi, was negotiated at Cusseta 



22 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

33. It was in the early days of the Creek War that 
" the smallest naval battle on record " occurred in Ala- 
bama waters. On the 12th of November, 1813, Samuel 
Dale, James Smith, and Jeremiah Austill, manning a 
canoe, met a party of nine Indian warriors in another 
boat on the Alabama river near the mouth of Randon's 
creek in what is now Monroe county. A hand-to-hand 
fight with war-clubs and rifle-barrels ensued, with the re- 
sult that the nine Indians were killed and the three white 
men escaped with a few painful though not serious wounds. 

The Alabama Territory. 

34. By an act of Congress approved March 1, 1817, the 
Mississippi Territory was divided into two parts by " a 
line to be drawn from the mouth of Big Bear creek on 
the Tennessee river to the north-west corner of Washing- 
ton county on the Tombigbee river, thence due south with 
the western limit of said county to the sea." That part 
lying west of the line indicated became, December 10, 
1817, the State of Mississippi. That part tying east of 
the line was organized by act of Congress, approved March 
3, 1817, into the Alabama Territory — the name being taken 
from the principal river within its borders. 1 St. Stephens, 
on the Tombigbee river, was made the provisional capital ; 
and President Monroe appointed William Wyatt Bibb, of 
Georgia, governor of the Territory. 

35. The act creating the Alabama Territory authorized 
the governor to convene a territorial legislature, to be com- 

and formally signed at Washington, March 24, 1832. It was not, 
however, until 1836 that they were moved across the Mississippi. — 
Brewer. 

1 The interpretation " Here we rest," said to have been given the 
name Alabama by the late Judge A. B. Meek, poet, orator, and histo- 
rian, which has found a place as the motto of the Great Seal of State, 
is now generally regarded as purely poetical. No other satisfactory 
interpretation has yet been substituted for it. 






TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT IN ALABAMA. 23 

posed of such members of the legislative council, or upper 
house, and of the house of representatives, of the Missis- 
sippi Territory as fell within the limits of the new Terri- 
tory. The first territorial legislature, thus provided for, 
met at St. Stephens on January 19, 1818, and the follow- 
ing counties which had been organized under the Missis- 
sippi Territory were represented : Washington, Madison, 
Baldwin, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe, and Montgomery. It 
happened that only one member of the old legislative 
council, or upper house, of the Mississippi Territory re- 
sided in the new Alabama Territory — Mr. James Titus, of 
Madison ; but, by no means disconcerted, he sat alone as 
an upper house or senate, and, with all the gravity which 
the situation demanded, passed or rejected measures which 
came to him from the lower house in due parliamentary 
form. On the 20th of January, Governor Bibb presented 
his message in which he recommended the advancement 
of education, the building of roads and bridges, the forma- 
tion of new counties, and other legislation for the develop- 
ment of the Territory. 

36. In the same year that the first territorial legislature 
met at St. Stephens, 1818, a French colony, composed of 
exiled followers of Napoleon, who were seeking in the 
wilds of Alabama a refuge from Bourbon hate, founded 
the city of Demopolis, at the junction of the Warrior 
and Tombigbee rivers. Among the colonists were General 
Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes, Captain Victor Grouchy, 
son of the famous Marshal Grouchy, and other noted 
French officers. The story of the colony, with its mis- 
fortunes, forms one of the most romantic episodes in 
South-western history. The names of the county of Ma- 
rengo and of its two villages, Linden and Areola, bear tes- 
timony to the political sympathies of its earliest settlers. 

37. The second session of the territorial legislature met 
at St. Stephens in November, 1818. At that session the 
seat of government was established on the Alabama river 



24 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

at the mouth of the Cahaba river, and Governor Bibb was 
made sole commissioner to lay off the town of Cahaba. 
Huntsville, however, was selected as the temporary capital, 
until suitable buildings could be erected at Cahaba. 

38. The Alabama Territory, at the time it was cut off 
from Mississippi, did not have over thirty-three thousand 
inhabitants, exclusive of Indians ; but before the close of 
1818, the population had increased to more than seventy 
thousand. This increase had been chiefly from immigra- 
tion from the States of Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and 
the Carolinas. The immigrants had brought with them 
the love of " settled government " bred in the older com- 
munities, and they vied with the earlier inhabitants in 
the desire to see their new home take on the dignity of 
Statehood. The time had come for Alabama to apply to 
Congress for admission into the Union. 



■■■■-. ■■ 




Governor George S. Houston. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA IN THE 

PAST. 

39. An Act of Congress entitled " An act to enable the 
people of Alabama Territory to form a constitution and 
State government, and for the admission of such State 
into the Union on an equal footing with the original 
States," was approved by President Monroe, March 2, 
1819. 1 Under the provisions of this " enabling act " an 
election was held throughout the several counties of the 



1 For present boundaries of the State, see Const. Art. II Sect. 1. 

C 25 



26 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

Territory on the first Monday and Tuesday of May, 1819, 
to elect delegates to a convention to form a constitution 
for the future State. The convention met at Huntsville 
on Monday July 5, 1819. John W. Walker, of Madison 
county, was chosen president, with John Campbell as sec- 
retary. The convention, having framed a constitution, 
adjourned on the 2d of August. 

40. It is worthy of remark here that the French settle- 
ment and the Spanish occupancy of a portion of the ter- 
ritory embraced in Alabama, left no traces in the organic 
law of the State. The government provided for by the 
constitution framed at Huntsville was " as purely Eng- 
lish in its outlines and spirit as that of Virginia or of 
Massachusetts." And with good reason; for a majority 
of the men who framed it had come from the lower group 
of the thirteen original States — the citizenship of which 
group was as thoroughly English in its political habit as 
that of any other part of the country. Of the forty-four 
delegates 1 who sat in the convention at Huntsville, ten are 
known to have come from Virginia, six from North Caro- 
lina, two from South Carolina, one from Georgia, one from 

1 The following is a roll of the delegates under the counties from 
which they were sent : Madison — Clement C. Clay, John Leigh Townes, 
Henry Chambers, Samuel Mead, Henry Minor, Gabriel Moore, John W. 
Walker, and John M. Taylor ; Monroe — John Murphy, John Watkins, 
James Pickens, and Thomas Wiggins; Blount — Isaac Brown, John 
Brown, and Gabriel Hanby ; Limestone — Thomas Bibb, Beverly Hughes, 
and Nicholas Davis ; Shelby — George Phillips and Thomas A. Rogers ; 
Montgomery — John D. Bibb and James W. Armstrong; Washington — 
Israel Pickens and Henry Hitchcock ; Tuscaloosa— Marmaduke Wil- 
liams and John L. Tindal ; Franklin — Richard Ellis and William Met- 
calf ; Cotaco— Melkijah Vaughn and Thomas D. Crabb; Clarke — Reuben 
Saffold and James McGoffin ; Cahaba — Littlepage Sims ; Conecuh — 
Samuel Cook ; Dallas — William R. King ; Marengo — Washington 
Thompson; Marion — John D. Terrell; Lauderdale — Hugh McVay; 
St. Clair — David Connor; Autauga — James Jackson; Baldwin — Harry 
Toulmin ; Mobile — S. H. Garrow ; Lawrence — Arthur F. Hopkins and 
Daniel Wright. — Pickett. 



STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST. 27 

Vermont, and one from England. There can be no question 
that a large majority of the remaining twenty-three dele- 
gates had also come, in about the same proportion, from 
the four first-mentioned States. " The men who domi- 
nated the convention," concludes Mr. Hannis Taylor, 
"were no doubt from Virginia and North Carolina." 

41. The Huntsville constitution, after a full "declara- 
tion of rights," made the usual division of the powers of 
government into " three distinct departments," legislative, 
executive, and judicial. The legislative power was vested 
in " two distinct branches : the one to be called the Senate, 
the other the House of Representatives, and both together 
' The General Assembly of the State of Alabama.' " The 
governor was to be elected by the people and to hold office 
for two years. The judicial power was vested in one su- 
preme court, in circuit courts, and in such inferior courts 
of law and equity, as the General Assembly might from 
time to time establish. 

42. The General Assembly was prohibited from pass- 
ing laws for the emancipation of slaves without the con- 
sent of the owners, or for. preventing immigrants from 
bringing slaves with them ; but power was given " to pre- 
vent slaves from being brought into the State as merchan- 
dise." It was enjoined upon the General Assembly to 
pass laws "to suppress the evil practice of duelling." It 
was declared that " schools shall be forever encouraged in 
this State ; " and that " the General Assembly shall take 
measures for the improvement of such lands as may have 
been or may be hereafter granted by the United States for 
the support of a seminary of learning, and the mone} T s 
which may be raised from such lands by rent, lease, or 
sale . . . shall be and remain a fund for the exclusive 
support of a State university, for the promotion of the 
arts, literature, and the sciences." 

43. With a view to Alabama's assumption of the full 
functions of statehood, an election was held on the third 



28 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

Monday and Tuesday in September, 1819, to choose mem- 
bers of the General Assembly, a governor, and other State 
officers. William Wyatt Bibb, who had been the Terri- 
torial governor of Alabama, was elected the first governor 
of the embryo State, and he was inaugurated at Hunts- 
vine, November 9, 1819. A joint resolution of Congress, 
admitting Alabama as a State of the Union under the con- 
stitution framed at Huntsville, was approved by President 
Monroe, December 14, 1819. 

44. The General Assembly met at Cahaba in 1820, and 
that place continued to be the seat of government until 
1826, when the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa. In 1846 
the capital was moved to Montgomery, which still remains 
the seat of government. The Capitol first built there was 
destroyed by fire in December, 1849 — a disaster involving 
the loss of valuable public documents. The present Capi- 
tol — made doubly historic by the inauguration of the Con- 
federate government there in 1861 — dates its completion 
from 1851. 

45. The excellence of the work of the framers of the 
constitution of 1819 is attested by the fact that, with a few 
unimportant amendments, it met all the conditions of a 
rapidly growing State until the lowering clouds of the 
great Civil War brought momentous changes. By a reso- 
lution passed February 24, 1860, the legislature instructed 
the governor to call a State convention in the event of the 
election of the republican candidate for the presidency. 
Under that resolution, Governor Andrew B. Moore, on the 
election of Mr. Lincoln, called a convention, which met in 
Montgomery, January 7, 1861. William M. Brooks, of 
Perry county, was elected president of the convention. 
Four days after its meeting — on the 11th day of January, 
1861 — it passed the following Ordinance of Secession : 

"Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of 
Alabama, in Convention assembled, That the State of Alabama 
now withdraws, and is hereby withdrawn, from the union 



STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST. 29 

known as the ' United States of America,' and henceforth 
ceases to be one of said United States, and is, and of right 
ought to be, a sovereign and independent State. 

" Sec. 2. Be it further declared and ordained by the people 
of the State of Alabama, in Convention assembled, That all the 
powers over the territory of said State, and of the people 
thereof, heretofore delegated to the government of the 
United States of America be, and they are hereby, with- 
drawn from said government, and are hereby resumed and 
vested in the people of Alabama." 1 

The ordinance was passed by a vote of sixty-one to 
thirty-nine. Twenty-four of the thirty-nine delegates who 
voted in the negative did not sign the ordinance; but 
among those who did sign it were some who had been 
leading opponents of the measure before its passage. 

46. On the 4th of February, 1861, representatives from 
the seceded States met in Montgomery and proceeded to 
form the provisional government of the Confederate States 
of America. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected 
president of the new republic, and he was inaugurated at 
the capitol in Montgomery, February 18, 1861. Alabama, 
of course, was represented in the formation of the new 
government, and it continued under that government until 
the final surrender of the Confederate armies in the spring 
of 1865. 

47. At the close of the war President Johnson — who 
believed that the seceded States should be recognized as 
States of the Union as soon as they had repealed the ordi- 
nances of secession, had repudiated the Confederate war 
debt, and had adopted the thirteenth amendment, prohib- 
iting slavery — appointed Lewis E. Parsons, of Talladega 
county, provisional governor of Alabama. A convention 

1 The full text of the Ordinance of Secession, including the pre- 
amble and the succeeding resolutions, was engrossed on parchment and 
signed by the members of the convention. It is preserved in the State 
library at Montgomery. 



30 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

was called to meet in Montgomery, September 12, 1865. 
Benjamin Fitzpatrick was elected president of this con- 
vention, with William H. Ogbourne as secretary. 

48. The convention revised the constitution of the State 
in accord with the " Johnson plan of reconstruction." 
Robert M. Patton was elected governor under the revised 
constitution, and the legislature chosen under it met in 
December, 1865. The government thus organized contin- 
ued in force until it was superseded by the act of Con- 
gress " to provide for the more efficient government of the 
insurrectionary States," which was passed over the veto 
of President Johnson, March 2, 1867. 

49. The reconstruction measures of Congress divided 
the seceding States into military districts, each under the 
command of an officer " not below the rank of brigadier- 
general." General Pope was appointed to the command 
of the military district of which Alabama formed a part, 
and Brigadier-General Wager Swayne was assigned to the 
immediate command of Alabama, with headquarters at 
Montgomery. Each State was to remain under this mili- 
tary government until a State convention, composed of 
delegates " elected by the male citizens of the State 
twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, 
or previous condition," should form a State government 
and ratify the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States. 

50. A convention called under the " congressional plan 
of reconstruction " met in Montgomery, November 5, 1867, 
and framed a new constitution establishing universal man- 
hood suffrage. When it was submitted to the people for 
ratification in February, 1868, it failed to secure the sup- 
port of a majority of the registered voters. Congress, 
however, afterwards decided that it had been ratified by 
receiving a majority of the votes which had been cast in 
the election, and consequently the State was readmitted 
into the Union under that constitution, July 11, 1868. 



STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST. 31 

51. At the general election in November, 1874, the 
forces which had dominated in Alabama under the " con- 
gressional plan of reconstruction " were finally overthrown. 
Under the leadership of the late George Smith Houston, 
who was at that time elected governor, a constitutional 
convention was called, and a new constitution was framed 
— the one under which the government of Alabama is now 
organized. It was ratified by popular vote, November 16, 
1875, and went into effect by proclamation of the governor 
December 6, 1875. Except in so far as it fully accepted 
the results of the Civil War, the present constitution per- 
petuates the spirit and the main features of the constitu- 
tion framed at Huntsville in 1819. 

52. Before outlining the organization of the present 
State and local governments in Alabama, which will be 
attempted in the succeeding chapters, it may be well to 
note a few facts in the progress and development of the 
State in the past. In 1820 — the year after the State was 
admitted into the Union — Alabama had a total popula- 
tion, exclusive of Indians, of only 127,901 souls. Of this 
number, 85,451 were whites and 42,450 negroes. By the 
last census, 1890, the State had a total population of 
1,513,017, of which 681,431 were colored. When the State 
was admitted into the Union, the principal towns were 
Mobile, Huntsville, Claiborne, Cahaba, St. Stephens, Mont- 
gomery, and Florence, none of which had a population of 
over two thousand. By the census of 1890, the popula- 
tion of the six leading cities of the State was given as 
follows : Mobile, 31,076, Birmingham, 26,178, Montgomery, 
21,883, Anniston, 9876, Huntsville, 7995, and Selma, 7626. 
In face of the rapid growth of mining and manufacturing 
industries in Alabama in the past decade, the large pre- 
ponderance of rural over urban population shows that the 
main interests of the people of the State still centre in 
agriculture. 

53. Although there was some division among the peo- 



32 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

pie of Alabama upon the question of secession, as indi- 
cated by the vote upon the Ordinance of Secession, when 
the Civil War opened they were practically united, in nearly 
all of the counties, in the support of the Confederate gov- 
ernment, and the State furnished over 120,000 soldiers for 
the Confederate armies. Among these were such distin- 
guished officers as Rodes, Kelly, Clanton, Clayton, Pel- 
ham, and scores of others who might be mentioned. 
Admiral Raphael Semmes, who commanded the Alabama 
in her famous duel with the Kearsarge off the coast of 
France, June 19, 1864, was an Alabamian. In council, 
as well as in the field and afloat, Alabama contributed 
able men to the service of the Confederacy — such men, for 
instance, as Leroy Pope Walker and Thomas Hill Watts, 
who were members of the cabinet of President Davis. 

54. In the opening days of the Civil War the people of 
Alabama only heard the sound of the conflict in the dis- 
tance ; but before its close they saw much of its realities. 
One of the most important naval battles of the war occur- 
red in Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864. when Admiral Farra- 
gut defeated the Confederate fleet commanded by Admiral 
Buchanan. Heavy fighting occurred on the eastern shore 
of Mobile Bay, at Spanish Fort and Blakely, in March 
and April, 1865. There were many important military 
operations throughout North Alabama, the most noted of 
which was the capture, May 3, 1863, of 1700 Federal 
troops by the Confederate General N. B. Forrest in the 
eastern part of Cherokee county ; and in the closing days 
of the war there were skirmishes or battles at Elyton, 
Tuscaloosa, Pleasant Ridge, and Selma. On the 4th of 
May, 1865, General Richard Taylor surrendered the mili- 
tary department of which Alabama formed a part, to the 
Federal General Canby, and this put' an end to military 
operations in the State. 

55. The people of Alabama have always exhibited a 
commendable interest in education. The State has a sys- 




STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST. 33 

tern of public schools that is constantly growing in effi- 
ciency. Chiefly to provide teachers for these schools, the 
State maintains seven normal schools or colleges : four are 
for white teachers, and are located at Florence, Troy, Jack- 
sonville, and Livingston ; the three normal schools for the 
training of colored teachers are at Tuskegee, Huntsville, 
and Montgomery. Besides this system of normal schools 
and an agricultural school provided for each congres- 
sional district, the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, 
and the Agricultural and Mechanical College and Poly- 
technic Institute, at Auburn, both endowed institutions, 
are under State control. Provision has also been made 
for the establishment and support of a State industrial 
school for white girls. In addition, there are excellent 
private and denominational schools and colleges to be 
found in every section of the State, among the most noted 
of which may be mentioned the Southern University, at 
Greensboro ; Howard College, at Eastlake, near Birming- 
ham, and Spring Hill College, near Mobile. 

56. The greatest charitable institution that the State 
maintains is the Alabama-Bryce Insane Hospital, at Tus- 
caloosa. It was opened in 1860 as the Alabama Insane 
Hospital, and after the death of its first great superin- 
tendent, the late Dr. Peter Bryce, his name was incor- 
porated, by an act of the General Assembly, in that of the 
institution. Two other important State institutions are 
the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, opened in 1860, and the 
Blind Asylum, opened in 1867, both of which are located 
at Talladega. They were united under one management 
in 1870, with the late Dr. J. H. Johnson as superin- 
tendent. 

57. In every department of public life Alabama has 
produced men worthy to serve as exemplars to the young. 
The roll of her distinguished public men is too long to be 
attempted here ; but among her great governors may be 
mentioned Winston, Watts, and Houston ; among her 

3 



34 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

great party leaders, Fitzpatrick, Yancey, and Hilliard; 
among her great judges, John A. Campbell, Edmund S. 
Dargan, Abram J. Walker, and George W. Stone. Alabama 
furnished a Vice-President of the United States in the 
person of William R. King, and among her great repre- 
sentatives and senators in the Federal Congress in the past 
were Dixon H. Lewis, Arthur P. Bagby, and Clement Clai- 
borne Clay. Among her men of letters of the past gen- 
eration, Albert J. Pickett and Alexander B. Meek de- 
serve especial honor for the patriotic work which they 
accomplished in preserving the early history of the State. 
58. Emerson has said, "America is another word for 
opportunity." Nowhere else in this great American 
republic are greater opportunities offered to the young 
than in Alabama. In variety of soil and climate, in min- 
eral resources, in navigable waterways — in fact, in a gen- 
erous combination of the natural resources from which 
material wealth and power are drawn — she is surpassed 
by no other State of the Union. It remains with an intel- 
ligent and virtuous citizenship to perpetuate within her. 
borders the blessings of good government, so necessary 
to the happiness and prosperity of all her people. 




The Great Seal of the State of Alabama. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 



59. The Citizen. — The fourteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States declares that " All per- 
sons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject 
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
and of the State wherein they reside." There is thus 
declared a double citizenship, which may be held and en- 
joyed by the same person at the same time. Under that 
amendment to the Constitution, "all persons," women and 
children, as well as adult males, who fulfil the conditions 
as to birth and naturalization, are citizens both of the 
State and of the United States. 1 

60. The Voter, or Elector. — All citizens, however, are 
not voters. Suffrage, or the right to vote, is not a natural 
right, but is one which is conferred by the State. The 
power to prescribe the qualifications of voters, or electors, 

1 " A citizen of a given State or country is one who owes it alle- 
giance and is entitled to its protection." 

35 



36 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

rests with the States, under the restriction, however, im- 
posed by the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, that such qualifications shall not be 
based upon u race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude." 1 The State constitution might fix or limit the 
suffrage upon any other basis than that prohibited by the 
Constitution of the United States — as, for instance, upon 
an educational or property qualification. Under the 
present constitution of Alabama, however, every male 
citizen over twenty-one years old is entitled to vote, except 
idiots, insane persons, and those who have been convicted 
of certain crimes. 2 

61. The Functions of State Government. — In the for- 
mation or remodelling of the government of the United 
States by the adoption of the Constitution framed at Phila- 
delphia in 1787, the States ceded to the Federal govern- 
ment certain powers which they had previously exercised 
in whole or in part. " How far," says Alexander Johnson, 
" the new Federal government succeeded to the sovereign 
rights of the States, each must decide for himself by a 
study of the Constitution, and on his decision will depend 
generally his party membership." There is no question, 
however, as to some of the powers ceded by the States. 
They agreed not to make any treaty with each other or 
with any foreign power; not to coin money; not to issue 
any paper money; not to make anything but gold and 
silver a legal tender in the payment of debts ; not to levy 
any taxes upon exports or imports, without the consent of 
Congress; and not to engage in war, unless actually in- 
vaded, without the consent of Congress. 

1 There is also the earlier restriction contained in Art. I. Sect. 2 of 
the Constitution of the United States, that in each State the electors 
who choose members of the House of Representatives in Congress, 
" shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numer- 
ous branch of the State legislature." 

2 See Art. VIII. 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 37 

But, conceding the most liberal range of powers con- 
ferred by the Constitution upon the government of the 
United States, the great bulk of the work of government 
still rests with the States. In general terms, it may be 
said that the State government is charged with regulating 
the business dealings of citizens with each other, and with 
the prevention and punishment of crime — except crimes 
committed on the high seas, and crimes against the United 
States or against the laws of nations. The State regulates 
buying and selling, and the execution of deeds, mortgages, 
and other conveyances and contracts. It establishes and 
provides for the support of public schools and charitable 
institutions. It regulates the inheritance of property, the 
adminstration of estates, and the domestic relations of 
husband and wife, parent and child, master and servant. 
It grants charters within the State to corporations such as 
railroads, telegraph lines, banks — except national banks — 
insurance and manufacturing companies ; and it regulates 
the organization of such corporations and their dealings 
with the public. It establishes and prescribes the mode 
of procedure in the various State courts, and it provides 
for the organization of county, city, and town govern- 
ments, which deal directly with the local interests of the 
people. These are only some of the functions of the State 
government; to catalogue them all would be to "examine 
all the foundations of law and order." 1 

62. The Division of Powers. — The powers of the 
government of the State of Alabama are divided into three 
distinct departments— the legislative, the executive, and 
the judicial. 2 

The Legislative Power. 

63. The Legislative Power of the State is vested in a 
General Assembly, which consists of a Senate and a House 

1 Woodrow Wilson. 2 See Art, III. 



38 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

of Representatives. The power of the General Assembly 
is unlimited in the making of laws, except so far as it is 
restrained by the State or Federal constitutions or by the 
laws of Congress. 1 The representatives and half of the 
senators are chosen at the general State election held on 
the first Monday of August every two years. 2 

The General Assembly meets biennially, in even years, 
in the Capitol, at Montgomery, on Tuesday after the 
second Monday in November. The two houses sit apart, 
except when they meet in joint convention in the Hall of 
Representatives to elect officers; to witness the opening 
and publishing of the returns of election for State officers ; 
or to constitute a tribunal for the trial of contests of elec- 
tions for State officers. 

The General Assembly cannot remain in session longer 
than fifty working days. Neither house can adjourn for 
more than three days, nor to any other place than that in 
which it may be sitting, without the consent of the other. 
A majority of each house constitutes a quorum to do 
business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day and may compel the attendance of absent members. 

Each house has power to judge of the qualifications of 
its members ; to determine its rules of procedure ; and to 
punish members or others for contempt or disorderly con- 
duct in its presence. Members of both houses are privi- 
leged from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning 
from the session, except for treason, felony, breach of the 
peace, or violation of their oath of office. The pay of 
representatives and senators is four dollars per day, 3 and 

1 When the General Assembly is convened in special session by- 
proclamation of the governor, it cannot legislate upon any other sub- 
jects than those designated in the proclamation. 

2 For qualifications and terms of office, see Art. IV. Sects. 3, 4, and 9. 

3 The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Eep- 
resentatives are each paid six dollars per day. 



40 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

ten cents a mile in going to and returning from the seat of 
government, to be computed by the nearest usual line of 
travel ; and they are also supplied at the expense of the 
State with such stationery as they may need. 

64. The Senate. — The Senate of Alabama is limited by 
the constitution to thirty-three members, one for each of 
the senatorial districts into which the State is divided. 
The State is re-districted every ten years, when a new 
census is taken, and the districts must have as nearly as 
possible, without dividing counties, the same number of 
inhabitants. At the beginning of each regular meeting of 
the General Assembly, the Senate is organized by electing 
one of its number a presiding officer, who is known as the 
president of the Senate ; and it also elects its subordinate 
officers, who are not members of the body, to-wit : secre- 
tary, assistant secretary, enrolling and engrossing clerk, 
doorkeeper, and assistant doorkeeper. The president 
appoints the standing committees of the Senate ; and the 
more important committees are authorized to employ clerks. 
The Senate can originate all bills, except those providing 
for raising revenue — to which, however, it has the right to 
propose amendments. Besides its general legislative 
power, it shares somewhat in the executive power in that 
it has the right to confirm or reject certain appointments 
of the governor, and in the judicial power in that it may 
sit as a court of impeachment to try the governor, secretary 
of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney-general, superintend- 
ent of education, and judges of the supreme court, on 
articles or charges preferred by the House of Represent- 
atives. 1 

65. The House of Representatives. — The House of 
Representatives consists of not more than one hundred 
members, and representation is apportioned every ten years, 
after a new census, among the counties ; but every county 

^ee Art. VII. Sect. 1. 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 41 

must have at least one representative. The body is organ- 
ized by electing one of its own members as a presiding 
officer, who is known as the speaker of the House, and who 
is charged, among other duties, with appointing its stand- 
ing committees. The House elects its subordinate officers, 
who are not members, to-wit : clerk, assistant clerk, enroll- 
ing clerk, engrossing clerk, doorkeeper, and assistant door- 
keeper. The House may originate any bill, and under the 
constitution it is specially charged with originating bills 
for raising a sufficient revenue by taxation and otherwise, 
to meet all lawful demands upon the State treasury. 

66. How a Law is Made. — A law is originated in the 
form of a " bill " introduced by a member of either house. 
The bill must contain but one subject, which must be 
clearly expressed in its title. 1 It must be referred to its 
appropriate committee in both houses. It must be read 
on three different days in each house, and when put on 
its final passage it must be read at length and the yea and 
nay votes must be recorded. 2 It must receive a majority 
of the votes of the members present in each house. It is 
then signed by the presiding officers of both houses and 
sent to the governor. If he approves it, it becomes a law. 
If he refuses to approve it, it may be passed over his veto 
by a majority of all the members elected in each house. 
If the governor does not approve or veto the bill within 
five days after it is presented to him, it becomes a law, 
unless in the meantime the General Assembly should ad- 
journ, in which case it fails to become a law. 3 Either 
house may amend a bill that comes to it from the other 
house, and it is then sent back to the house in which it orig- 
inated to have the amendment concurred in. If the two 
houses cannot agree, a conference committee is appointed 
from each house, which may agree upon a compromise 



1 For exceptions, see Art. IV. Sect. 2. 2 See Art. IV. Sect. 21. 

3 " A pocket veto." 



42 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

measure to be reported back to the respective houses. 
The style of all laws is : " Be it enacted by the General As- 
sembly of Alabama." 

The Executive Power. 

67. The Executive Department of the State govern- 
ment consists of the governor, the secretary of state, the 
State treasurer, the State auditor, the attorney-general, the 
superintendent of education, and the commissioner of 
agriculture. All of the State executive offices were cre- 
ated by the constitution except that of commissioner of 
agriculture, which is a statutory office. 1 The officers are 
elected for a term of two years on the first Monday of 
August of the even years. There is no constitutional or 
statutory limit to the number of terms for which a State 
executive officer may be elected; but well-established 
custom has limited the number to two terms. 2 

68. The Governor. — The supreme executive power of 
the State is vested in a chief magistrate, styled " The Gov- 
ernor of the State of Alabama," whose duty it is to .see 
that the laws are faithfully executed. 3 He has a general 
supervision of all the executive departments of the State 
government, and he may require from the heads of de- 
partments written reports, under oath, on any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective departments. 
He must give the General Assembly all needed informa- 
tion as to the State government, and recommend to it such 
measures as he thinks important. It is his duty to pre- 
sent to the General Assembly, at the commencement of 
each regular session, estimates of the amount of revenue 

1 There are various administrative officers, boards, and commissions 
created by statute to assist in the administration of the State govern- 
ment, the more important of which will be noted hereafter. 

2 This custom is not so well established in the case of superintendents 
of education as in that of the other officials. 

3 For qualifications of the governor, see Art. V. Sect. 6. 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 43 

necessary to be raised to meet all demands upon the State 
treasury. 

The governor has power to remit fines and to grant 
pardons, except in cases of impeachment and treason, 
and to fill by appointment all vacancies that may occur 
among the State executive officers, judges, chancellors, 
and county officers. With the consent of the Senate, he 
appoints railroad commissioners, militia generals, and 
trustees of various State educational and charitable insti- 
tutions. He has the power of absolute appointment of 
convict inspectors, mine inspector, examiner of public 
accounts, and other State and county officials. 1 

The governor may be impeached and removed from 
office for any wilful neglect of duty, corruption in office, 
habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offence in- 
volving moral turpitude. If the governor should resign 
during the session of the General Assembly, he must send 
his resignation to the president of the Senate ; otherwise, 
to the secretary of state, who must notify the president 
of the Senate. When the office of governor becomes va- 
cant for any cause, the president of the Senate must act 
as governor until a new governor is elected. If the presi- 
dent of the Senate should fail to qualify, or should die or 
resign, then the speaker of the House of Representatives 
must administer the government until the next election. 2 
The salary of the governor is $3000 a year. 

69. Military Organization. — The governor is command- 
er-in-chief of the militia, including the volunteer forces of 
the State, except when they are called into the service of 
the United States. The volunteer military forces, as dis- 
tinguished from the unorganized militia, are designated as 

1 The governor has power to appoint a private secretary and a re- 
cording secretary. The private secretary is made by statute "the 
keeper of the Capitol," and he has charge of the official correspond- 
ence of the governor. 

2 See Art. V. Sect. 15. 



44 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

the " Alabama State Troops," and the following staff of- 
ficers are appointed and commissioned by the governor 
as officers of such troops, and hold office at his pleasure : 
adjutant-general, 1 inspector-general, judge-advocate-gen- 
eral, quartermaster-general, surgeon-general, commissary- 
general, and paymaster-general, each with the rank of 
colonel ; and assistant adjutant-general and four aides-de- 
camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. An act of the 
General Assembly, approved February 18, 1895, author- 
ized the organization of the several regiments of the 
" Alabama State Troops " into a brigade under the imme- 
diate command of a brigadier-general, appointed by the 
governor and confirmed by the Senate. His term of office 
is four years ; but he may be removed from office at the 
will of the governor. 2 

70. The Secretary of State is the keeper of the Great 
Seal of the State, which he affixes to such instruments as 
the law requires, and he registers all the official acts of 
the governor. He is charged with preserving the original 
statutes and other papers belonging to the General As- 
sembly, and with superintending the publication of the 
Acts of the General Assembly. It is his duty to attest 
commissions, pardons, and all other executive documents ; 
to record all grants issued by the State ; to keep all books, 
maps, and field notes of the United States land surveys 
for this State ; to supply the books and stationery for the 

1 The adjutant-general is chief-of-staff to the governor, and he issues 
all orders of the governor to the military forces of the State. He is 
charged with preserving the arms and other military stores of the State, 
and with distributing them to the State troops. It is his duty to keep 
a roster of all the officers of the State troops and to keep on file in his 
office all reports made to him. He may be said to be the military ex- 
ecutive officer of the State government. 

2 A major-general and a brigadier-general for each congressional dis- 
trict are also appointed by the governor for the unorganized militia of 
the State, which consists of all able bodied male citizens between the 
ages of eighteen and forty-five. 




PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 45 

several departments of the State government ; to receive 
election returns required by law to be sent to him ; and 
to receive and file the bonds of State and county officials. 
He is the custodian of all books — such as codes of laws, 
acts and journals of the General Assembly, and reports 
of the supreme court — kept for sale by the State. He 
must give bond for the faithful performance of his duties 
in the sum of $10,000, which must be approved by the 
governor and deposited in the office of the auditor. His 
salary is $1800 a year. 

71. The State Treasurer receives and keeps the money 
of the State and pays it out on warrants legally drawn by 
the auditor. It is his duty to keep accurate accounts of 
the receipts and expenditures ; to take receipts for all j)ay- 
ments and file such receipts with warrants, in chronologi- 
cal order, for each fiscal year ; to make an itemized report 
to the General Assembly of amounts received and paid 
out, with an exact statement of the balance in the treas- 
ury. With the approval of the governor, the treasurer 
may designate some bank in the city of New York as the 
fiscal agent of the State to pay the interest on its bonded 
indebtedness. The treasurer gives bond in the sum of 
$250,000, which must be approved by the governor, re- 
corded by the secretary of state, and filed with the auditor. 
His salary is $2100 a year. 

72. The State Auditor examines and adjusts the 
claims of all persons against the State, where provision 
for payment has been made by law, and draws the war- 
rants on the treasurer for the payment of all money out 
of the treasury. It is his duty to audit the accounts of 
all public officers, keeping a regular account with every 
person in each county in the State who is authorized to 
receive any part of the State revenue. In exercising the 
functions of a general supervision of the revenue, he must 
direct the forms to be used by all public officials in col- 
lecting, keeping accounts, and making returns of the 



46 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

same. He must give bond, satisfactory to the governor, 
in the sum of $20,000. His salary is $1800. 

73. The Attorney-General is the legal adviser of the 
governor and of the heads of departments in all matters 
relating to their respective departments. It is also his duty 
when requested, to give his legal advice to the chairmen 
of the judiciary committees of both houses of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. He represents the State in all criminal 
cases in the supreme court, and in all civil suits in which 
the State is interested. He also represents the State in all 
civil proceedings in which it may be interested in the 
courts of Montgomery county, and he may be required 
by the governor to represent the State in the courts of 
other States or of the United States. He must make an 
annual report to the governor on the criminal administra- 
tion of the State, making such suggestions as to the sup- 
pression of crime as he may deem proper. He must give 
bond, approved by the governor, in the sum of $10,000. 
His salary is $2500. 

74. The Superintendent of Education is charged with 
the administration of the public school system of the 
State. It is his duty to apportion all money belonging to 
the educational fund and to see to its proper disburse- 
ment; and, with this end in view, he must keep accurate 
accounts with all officers who become custodians of any 
part of that fund. He is charged with visiting every 
county in the State, as far as practicable, for the purpose 
of inspecting the schools and their management, and for 
the purpose of diffusing as widely as possible information 
as to the importance of public schools and the best methods 
of their management. He must also encourage and assist 
in organizing and conducting teachers' and superintend- 
ents' institutes. It is his duty to prepare such blanks as 
are needed in the administration of the school system. 
He has power to appoint county superintendents of edu- 
cation in counties where they are not elected. He is ex- 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 47 

officio a member of the board of trustees of the State uni- 
versity, of the agricultural and mechanical college, and of 
some of the normal schools. His salary is $2250. 

75. Commissioner of Agriculture. — When the office 
of commissioner of agriculture was created, in 1885, it 
was filled by appointment of the governor; but, by an 
act of the General Assembly approved February 18, 1891, 
it was made an elective office and was put upon the same 
footing, in this respect, with the constitutional executive 
offices. The general duties of the commissioner are to 
encourage the proper development of agriculture and kin- 
dred industries ; to collect and publish crop and other 
statistics ; and to have the diseases of grains and other 
crops investigated. Commercial fertilizers are sold in this 
State under his supervision and by his license, after sam- 
ples of such fertilizers have been analyzed by the State 
chemist. Duplicates of specimens in geology and mine- 
ralogy collected by the State geologist are required by law 
to be deposited in the commissioner's office. The com- 
missioner's salary is $2100. 

76. The State Examiner of Public Accounts is ap- 
pointed by the governor and holds office at his pleasure. 
It is his duty, under the direction of the governor, to ex- 
amine the books, accounts, and vouchers of all State 
officers and State institutions. The governor may also 
require him to examine the accounts of any county offi- 
cial charged with the collection or disbursement of any 
part of the public revenue. He is paid ten dollars per 
day while at work, and the governor prescribes the time 
for which he shall be employed. 

77. The Inspector of Mines is appointed by the gov- 
ernor, and holds office for a term of two years. It is his 
duty to visit, once in every four months, all underground 
mines in the State where twenty or more miners are em- 
ployed, and to point out what changes in ventilation, fix- 
tures, or machinery are required. He is required to keep 



48 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

in his office, which must be in the city of Birmingham, 
correct maps of all mines in the State. His salary is 
$1500 a year, with an allowance of $400 a year for travel- 
ling expenses. 

78. The Board of Railroad Commissioners consists 
of a president and two associates appointed by the gov- 
ernor and confirmed by the Senate for terms of six years. 
The board is charged with a general supervision of all the 
railroads of the State. It is the duty of the commissioners 
to examine the railroads from time to time, as they may 
deem necessary ; to keep themselves informed as to their 
condition and the manner in which they are operated ; to 
recommend to the railroad officials such measures and 
regulations as are deemed conducive to the public safety 
and interest; and to exercise such supervision over all 
tariffs of charges for transportation as justice to the public 
and to the railroads may require. The salary of the presi- 
dent is $3500 a year and that of the associate commis- 
sioners, $3000 each. 

79. The Board of Convict Inspectors consists of a 
president and two associate inspectors, one of whom must 
be a physician, who are appointed by the governor for 
terms of two years. The president of the board superin- 
tends the management of the convicts, and it his duty to 
see that all laws in relation to them are enforced. The 
board adopts such rules, approved by the governor, as are 
necessary to secure the humane treatment of the convicts ; 
and one of the inspectors must visit at least once in every 
two weeks the several places of confinement of convicts to 
examine the food, clothes, quarters, and bedding furnished 
them. Among other requirements, the biennial report of 
the inspectors must show what provision is made for the 
moral and religious instruction of the convicts. The 
president of the board must keep his office in the Capitol, 
where full records must be made of all matters pertaining 
to the convicts. The salary of the president is $1800 a 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 49 

year ; that of the inspector who is a physician, $1700 ; 
and that of the other inspector $1500. Travelling ex- 
penses are allowed inspectors while absent from their 
place of residence on official duty. 

SO. The State Board of Health is the Medical Asso- 
ciation of Alabama, which performs its functions chiefly 
through the State health officer and a board of ten censors, 
whom it elects or appoints. Its duties are to exercise a 
general superintendence of the county boards of health ; 
to inquire into the causes and the means of prevention of 
diseases; to investigate the influences of localities and 
employments upon the public health ; and to act as an 
advisory board to the State government in all hygienic 
and medical matters. It collects vital statistics, inspects 
State institutions, and co-operates with the county medi- 
cal boards in licensing physicians. 

81. Other Administrative Officers, Boards or Com- 
missions have been, or may be, created from time to 
time, by acts of the General Assembly, to assist the State 
executive officers in administering the affairs of the gov- 
ernment. Usually the names of such officers or boards 
indicate their duties in carrying on the governmental work 
of the State. Among the officers and boards heretofore 
created may be mentioned the State geologist, the State 
chemist, the board of oyster inspectors, the commission of 
lunacy, and the State board of embalmers. 1 

The Judicial Power. 

82. The Judicial Department of the State govern- 
ment consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, chancery 
courts, probate courts, 2 and such other inferior courts of 

1 The teacher should make himself familiar with the functions of 
these officers and boards by reference to the statutes respectively cre- 
ating them. 

2 As the probate judge is a county officer, his jurisdiction and func- 
tions will be stated in the succeeding chapter, on " Local Government 
in Alabama." 

4 E 



50 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

law and equity as the General Assembly may from time 
to time establish. 1 All judges of the courts established 
by the constitution are elected for terms of six years, and 
there is no constitutional or statutory limit to the number 
of terms for which a judge may be elected. 

83. The Supreme Court consists at present of a chief- 
justice and four associate justices. Except as otherwise 
directed in the constitution, it has only appellate jurisdic- 
tion. 2 It has original jurisdiction in all cases of impeach- 
ment of chancellors, circuit judges, probate judges, circuit 
solicitors, judges of inferior statutory courts, and other 
State officials, such as railroad commissioners. It has 
appellate jurisdiction in all cases which have been tried in 
the lower courts and which have come up, in the manner 
prescribed by law, for final adjudication. When a case is 
appealed to the supreme court, a record of it in the lower 
court, called a " transcript," is sent up. When the case 
comes on for trial, if it appears that all the evidence is set 
out, the supreme court may either affirm the decision of 
the lower court, or it may reverse it and render such judg- 
ment as should have been given, or it may remand the 
case generally, or it may remand it with directions to the 
lower court to enter the proper judgment, order, or decree. 
The court or a majority of the justices renders the decision 
in the form of an " opinion " delivered by one of the jus- 
tices, in which the other justices concur, or from which 
a minority may dissent. The decision of the court is final, 
unless it involves an interpretation of the Constitution or 
laws of the United States, in which case it may be ap- 
pealed to the supreme court of the United States. The 
officers of the supreme court of Alabama — the clerk, the 
reporter, and the marshal and librarian — are appointed by 
the justices. 3 It is the duty of the reporter to compile 



1 See Art VI. Sect 1. 2 See Art VI Sect 2. 

3 The justices also appoint the secretary of the chief-justice. 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 51 

the decisions of the supreme court and to superintend 
their publication in book form. These volumes constitute 
the Supreme Court Reports, and the decisions which they 
contain establish precedents for future cases involving 
similar propositions of law. The supreme court meets at 
the Capitol in Montgomery on the first Tuesday of No- 
vember in each year and the term continues until the last 
of June. The salary of the justices is $3600 each. 

84. Circuit Courts. — The State is divided into thirteen 
judicial circuits, for each of which there is elected a judge 
by the voters of the circuit. The only constitutional limit 
to the number of circuits into which the State may be 
divided by the General Assembly, is that there must not 
be less than three counties nor more than twelve in any 
one circuit. 1 The judge must hold court in each county 
in his circuit at least twice a year. 2 The circuit court has 
original jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and in civil cases 
where more than fifty dollars is involved. It can also en- 
tertain appeals in both civil and criminal cases from in- 
ferior courts. The salary of a circuit judge is $2500 per 
annum. 

85. City Courts have been established, from time to 
time, by acts of the General Assembly, in the more im- 
portant municipalities of the State ; and they have, in the 
counties in which they are respectively established, unless 
otherwise provided, the same criminal jurisdiction, both 
original and appellate, that the circuit courts have. Some 
of the city courts have concurrent civil jurisdiction with 
the circuit courts in the counties in which they exist, 
while others have both common-law and equity jurisdic- 

1 See Art. VI. Sect. 4. 

2 Whenever the governor is notified that the judge of any circuit 
will not he able to hold court in a given county or counties, he is au- 
thorized to appoint a special judge for that purpose. The pay of such 
special judge is ten dollars per day and his actual or necessary ex- 
penses. 



52 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

tion. But the jurisdiction and the method of appoint- 
ment, the terms of service, and the salaries of the judges, 
solicitors, and other officers of the various statutory courts 
in question are determined by the acts of the General 
Assembly respectively creating them. 

86. The Circuit Solicitor, who is elected by joint vote 
of the General Assembly for a term of six years, must be 
present at each regular term of the circuit court, and at each 
special term held for trial of persons charged with felony. 
It is his duty to attend on the grand juries, advise them 
in relation to matters of law, and examine and swear wit- 
nesses before them ; to draw up all indictments and to 
prosecute all indictable offences; and to prosecute and 
defend any civil action in the circuit court in the prose- 
cution or defence of which the State is interested. The 
salary of a circuit solicitor is $2400 a year, and a cer- 
tain commission on fees earned by him for convictions, 
and actually paid into the State treasury — provided such 
commissions do not exceed $600. The duties of city solici- 
tors and county solicitors in the counties where their 
election or appointment has been provided for by special 
legislation, are similar to those of the circuit solicitors. 

87. Chancery Courts. — The State is divided into five 
chancery divisions, with a chancellor for each, who is 
elected by the voters of the division. The chancery divi- 
sions are subdivided into districts, usually one county con- 
stituting a district, in each of which the chancellor holds 
his court at least once a year. If for any reason the chan- 
cellor cannot hold his courts at the appointed time the gov- 
ernor may appoint a special chancellor for that purpose. 
The chancery court has jurisdiction in all causes in which 
a plain and adequate remedy is not provided in the other 
judicial tribunals ; in cases founded on a gambling con- 
sideration, so far as to sustain a bill of discovery and grant 
relief; in the granting of divorces ; and in such other 
cases as may be provided by law. The salary of a chan- 



PRESENT STATE GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 53 

cellor is $2500 a year. The records of the chancery 
court are kept by an officer known as the register in chan- 
cery, who may make and direct, during the vacation of 
the court, all orders, decrees, and other proceedings which 
do not affect the merits of causes, but are preparatory to 
the hearing of the causes upon their merits by the chan- 
cellor. The register is appointed by the chancellor, and 
may be removed by him for cause. 

88. The Income of the State. — In order to perform its 
proper functions of government, the State must be pro- 
vided with a sufficient revenue, and this must be raised 
without laying " any imposts or duties on imports or ex- 
ports." The income of Alabama is derived from taxes 
levied on all real and personal property in the State, ex- 
cept that of religious, educational, and charitable institu- 
tions, as provided by the State constitution, and except 
certain other property exempted by the General Assembly ; 
from licenses, fines, and penalties ; from taxes on the gross 
premium receipts of life, fire and marine insurance compa- 
nies ; and from various other sources. 1 The General As- 
sembly may levy a poll-tax of one dollar and fifty cents ; 
but it must be applied exclusively in aid of the public 
school fund in the county in which it is paid. This tax is 
collected from all male inhabitants of the State, not ex- 
empt by law, between the ages of twenty-one and forty- 
five years. Under the constitution the General Assembly 
cannot levy in any one year a greater rate of taxation than 
three-fourths of one per centum on the value of taxable 
property, 2 and no county in the State can levy a greater 

1 Under the liberal laws for the inheritance of property in Alabama, 
escheat is an unimportant factor in the income of the State ; and 
there is now no State tax upon individual incomes. The constitution 
provides that all escheats must be applied to the support of the public 
schools. {Art. XIII. Sect. 3.) 

2 The present rate of taxation by the State is five and a half mills on 
every dollar's worth of property — or fifty-five cents on every hundred 
dollars' worth. 



54 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

rate than one-half of one per centum, except as provided 
in the constitution. 1 The governor, the secretary of state, 
the State auditor, and the State treasurer constitute the 
State Board of Assessment for fixing the taxable value of 
the property of railroad and other companies, returns of 
which are required to be made to the State auditor. No 
new debt can be incurred by the State, except to repel 
invasion or to suppress insurrection, and then only by a 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house 
of the General Assembly. But the governor is authorized 
to negotiate temporary loans, never to exceed one hundred 
thousand dollars, to meet deficiencies in the treasury. 

1 See Art XL Sects. 1-5. 






CHAPTER V. 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ALABAMA. 

The County. 

89. County Organization. — The State of Alabama is 
divided into sixty-six counties, 1 each of which is a corpo- 
ration with power to sue and be sued in any court of 
record. The supreme court of Alabama has declared 2 
that counties are " created by the State as a means of ex- 
ercising a portion of its political power by local adminis- 
trations," and that on them the State has conferred " a 
part of the sovereign authority and duty to ensure do- 
mestic tranquillity, and promote the general welfare within 
their territorial limits." The county is an administrative 
division of the State, on the duly constituted authorities 
of which are conferred the most important functions of 
local government — except in so far as county administra- 
tion is supplemented or superseded by municipal govern- 
ment within the corporate limits of towns and cities. It 
is evident from the origin and nature of the county gov- 
ernment that it must act under the control of the State 
government and subordinate to its power. 

1 The organization of a territorial government, out of which grew 
the State government, preceded the organization of counties (.see fl 23), 
In Alabama, as in the Southern and Western States generally, the State 
government was thus the first thing, and the subdivision into counties, 
precincts, etc., followed. This was the reverse of the process of " State- 
building" in New England, where independent, self-governing com- 
munities or towns first existed, and were afterwards grouped into the 
larger political divisions. 

2 Chambers County v. Lee County, 55 Ala. p. 537. 

55 



56 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

The General Assembly may, by a two-thirds vote of 
each house, arrange and designate boundaries for the 
counties ; but no new county can be formed of less extent 
than six hundred square miles, and no existing county can 
be reduced to less than six hundred square miles. Fur- 
thermore, no new county can be formed which does not 
contain a sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle it to 
one representative in the General Assembly under the ratio 
of representation existing at the time of its formation, nor 
can the territory of any existing county be cut down so 
that its population under the existing ratio will not entitle 
it to at least one representative. 1 

The functions of local administration and government 
within the counties are performed chiefly by the following 
officers : judge of probate, sheriff, clerk of the circuit court, 
commissioners of roads and revenues, tax-assessor, tax-col- 
lector, 2 treasurer, superintendent of education, coroner, 
county surveyors, registrar of voters, 3 pension examiners, 
and members of the county boards of equalization. 

90. The County-seat. — The county officials keep their 
offices at the county-seat, and, for the most part, in the 
county court-house. The county-seat is usually a village 
or town selected on account of its convenience of access 
from the different parts of the county ; but sometimes a 
site is selected, on account of its central location, where 
there is at the time no village or town. When a new 
county is formed the General Assembly authorizes a vote 
to be taken in such county upon the location of the county- 

1 See Art. II. Sect. 2. 

2 In a few of the counties the office of tax-collector has been combined 
with that of sheriff. Special legislation has resulted in other minor 
variations in the organization of the county authorities. These varia- 
tions can be pointed out by the teacher in the counties in which they 
occur. 

3 The duty of the registrar in connection with the election machinery 
of the State will be noted in the succeeding chapter. 



THE COUNTY. 57 

seat, and the General Assembly may, at any time after- 
wards, authorize a vote to be taken upon a change of 
location. The county authorities provide for the erection 
at the county-seat of a court-house, a jail, and sometimes 
other public buildings. 

91. The Judge of Probate is elected for a term of six 
years. He has original jurisdiction in all matters relating 
to the probate of wills and the execution of the same ; to 
the administration of estates of deceased persons ; to the 
appointment and removal of guardians of minors and 
persons of unsound mind ; to the binding out of appren- 
tices ; to the allotment of dower in lands ; and to the par- 
tition of lands among joint owners. It is his duty to issue 
all necessary citations, subpoenas, executions, and other 
processes necessary for. the execution of his powers ; to 
keep minutes of all his official acts and proceedings ; to 
file and record deeds and other conveyances; to issue 
marriage licenses ; to issue licenses to liquor dealers and 
other revenue licenses ; and to perform such other official 
acts as may be by law required of him. The judge of 
probate has authority to employ, at his own expense, a 
clerk who can perform all the duties of the office which 
are not judicial in their character. The judge of probate 
also sits as judge of the county court 1 for the trial of all 
misdemeanors, that court having concurrent jurisdiction 
in these cases with the circuit and city courts. The pay 
of the judge of probate is chiefly from fees for services 
rendered. 

92. The Sheriff is the chief executive officer of the 
county. By the constitution 2 he is made a part of the 

1 The circuit-solicitor (see f 86) has power to appoint a deputy solici- 
tor, popularly known as a " county solicitor," to prosecute offences be- 
fore the county court in the counties where the election or appointment 
of county or city solicitors has not been provided for by special legis- 
lation. 

2 See Art. V. Seel 1. 



58 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

executive machinery of the State government, and is 
hence directly under the orders of the governor in enfor- 
cing the laws of the State. The sheriff is elected for a 
term of four years, and he cannot be his own successor. 1 
It is his duty to execute and return all writs, citations, 
subpoenas, warrants, executions, and other processes issued 
by proper authority ; to attend the chancery, circuit, pro- 
bate, and county courts ; and to obey all lawful orders 
and directions of such courts. The sheriff has charge of 
the county jail and the county court-house. His pay is 
derived chiefly from fees, fixed by law, for services ren- 
dered. 

93. The Clerk of the Circuit Court is elected for a 
term of six years. It is his duty to issue all summonses, 
subpoenas, writs, executions and other processes under 
authority of the court ; to keep proper and separate 
dockets of civil and criminal cases ; and to keep and record 
the minutes of each day's proceedings during the term of 
the court. His pay is chiefly from fees fixed by law. 

94. The Court of County Commissioners is composed 
of the judge of probate, as principal judge, and four com- 
missioners who are elected for terms of four years each 2 . 
The importance of the functions of this body is so great 
that it may be said to constitute the county government. 
The court has power to direct and control the property 
of the county ; to levy county taxes, 3 as authorized by 
law ; to examine and allow all claims against the county; 
to audit the accounts of all officers having to do with 
the receipts and disbursements of county money ; and 
to make rules and regulations for the support of the 
poor of the county. It is charged with a general superin- 

1 See Art V. Sect. 26. 

2 In some of the counties the functions of the court of county com- 
missioners are performed by boards of revenue appointed by the gov- 
ernor. 

3 See Art. XL Sect. 5. 



THE COUNTY. 59 

tendence of public roads, bridges, and buildings, and with 
all other matters affecting the material interests of the 
county. The probate judge and two commissioners, or 
three commissioners without the probate judge, constitute 
a quorum. The records of the court are kept by the judge 
of probate, who must issue all processes necessary to sus- 
tain its jurisdiction or maintain its authority. 

95. Jury Commissioners. — The county commissioners 
or the members of the boards of revenue, not including 
the judge of probate, constitute — except in those counties 
otherwise provided for by special legislation — a board of 
jury commissioners, which is charged with performing all 
the duties required by law in relation to the selection and 
drawing of grand and petit jurors for the circuit and city 
courts. The jurors must be drawn from the male resi- 
dents of the county over twenty-one and under sixty 
years of age, not exempt from jury duty, who are house- 
holders and freeholders, and who, in the opinion of the 
commissioners, are fit and competent to discharge their 
duties with honesty, impartiality and intelligence. 

The commissioners, whether sitting as a court or as a 
board of jury commissioners, are paid two dollars and fifty 
cents for each day, and mileage at the rate of five cents. 

96. The Tax Assessor and the County Board of 
Equalization. — The tax assessor is elected for a term of 
four years. It is his duty to visit each election precinct 
at least twice a year, having previously given notice of his 
appointments as prescribed by law, for the purpose of 
making a list of taxable property of each taxpayer. A 
county board of equalization was created by an act of the 
General Assembly approved February 18, 1895, composed 
of three members : the tax assessor, a member appointed 
by the governor for a term of four years, and a member 
elected by the court of county commissioners for a term 
of two years. The member appointed by the governor is 
chairman of the board and the tax assessor is secretary. 



60 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

It is the duty of the board to examine each assessment 
list, and institute inquiry into the correctness of the tax 
valuations which it contains. The assessor is paid by 
commissions and fees. The other members of the board 
are paid three dollars per day each while actually at work 
equalizing taxes — the chairman being paid by the State, 
and the other member by the county. 

97. The Tax Collector is elected for a term of four 
years, and he is charged with collecting the State and 
county taxes that are due from taxpayers. He must 
attend for this purpose, after having given the notice re- 
quired by law, the voting-place in each election precinct 
in the county twice in each year, and his appointments 
must be at least thirty days apart. His pay is from com- 
missions on the amounts collected and from fees. 

98. The County Treasurer is elected for a term of four 
years. It is his duty to receive and keep the money of 
the county, and to pay it out on warrants drawn accord- 
ing to law ; to register all claims against the county ; and 
to keep a correct account of the receipts and disbursements 
of all money received and paid out by him for the county. 
His compensation is a commission, fixed by the commis- 
sioners' court, on the amount which he has paid out ; but 
in no case must this commission exceed five per centum, 
nor must the aggregate amount exceed, in any one year, 
one thousand dollars. 

99. The Coroner is elected for a term of four years. 
His principal duty is to hold an inquisition, called the 
coroner's inquest, over the body of any person who has 
been killed or who has suddenly died under such circum- 
stances as afford a reasonable ground for the belief that 
such death has resulted from the unlawful act of another 
person. In case of a vacancy in the office of sheriff, or 
when the sheriff is imprisoned or is a party in interest, the 
coroner acts as sheriff. The coroner's pay is from fees. 

100. The County Superintendent of Education is 



THE COUNTY. 61 

appointed by the State superintendent of education, except 
in counties where special legislation has provided for his 
election. The term of office, unless otherwise specially 
provided, is two years ; but the State superintendent may, 
at any time, for good cause, remove the county superin- 
tendent from office. The county superintendent has a 
general supervision of the public schools and the educa- 
tional interests of the county. It is his duty to receive 
and pay out all money raised for the support of the public 
schools ; and, acting with the teachers appointed by him 
as an educational board, to examine and license teachers 
in the public schools. It is his further duty to appoint 
township trustees for the public schools, except where 
their election has been specially provided for; and to 
establish and conduct teachers' institutes. He is required 
to make, on the first day of November, an annual report 
upon the public schools in his county to the State super- 
intendent. Except in counties where it has been increased 
by special legislation, the salary of the county superin- 
tendent is seventy-five dollars a year, with a commission 
of two per centum on all money paid out by him. 

101. County Surveyors. — The court of county com- 
missioners is authorized to appoint two surveyors for the 
county, who hold office for the term of three years. It is 
the duty of each of the surveyors to execute and return all 
orders of surveys directed to him from any court of record 
in the State ; and to make surveys of lands or lots in the 
county, at the request of any person interested, on the 
payment or tender of his probable fees. The court of 
county commissioners fixes the rate of compensation of 
the surveyors. 

102. The County Board of Health. — The county medi- 
cal society constitutes a board of health for the county. 
It elects a health officer for the county and fixes his term 
of office. It is the duty of the board of health to super- 
vise the administration of the health laws of the State 

F 



62 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

within the county ; to examine into all cases of malignant 
epidemic diseases ; to collect vital statistics ; to take steps 
for the prevention and abatement of all nuisances ; and to 
exercise a general superintendence over the sanitary regu- 
lations of the public institutions situated in the county. 
The board of censors appointed by the county medical 
society constitute a board of medical examiners which, in 
affiliation with the State board of censors, examines and 
licenses physicians. 

103. County Board of Examiners. — An act of the 
General Assembly approved February 18, 1895, provided 
for the appointment by the governor of a board of ex- 
aminers for each county, to consist of three members, the 
duty of which board is to inquire into the merits of appli- 
cations filed by indigent ex-Confederate soldiers and sailors, 
or their widows, for aid from the State. After the examin- 
ation of each application, the board endorses it as approved 
or disapproved. The probate judge transmits to the State 
auditor such applications as are approved, and those which 
are disapproved are filed in the probate judge's office for 
future reference. 

The Precinct. 

104. The Precinct. — The election precinct, 1 which is 
the most important subdivision of the county, is estab- 
lished or changed by the court of county commissioners 
as the convenience of voters may require ; but no change 
can be made within sixty days before an election, nor 
without three months' public notice. The number and 
boundaries of precincts and the place or places of hold- 
ing elections must be known and designated as entered on 
the records of the court of county commissioners. 

1 In Alabama and Mississippi the term " beat " is popularly used to in- 
dicate a precinct (see Century Dictionary). In some of the later acts of 
the General Assembly of Alabama the two terms are used interchange- 
ably. 



THE TOWNSHIP. 63 

105. The Justice of the Peace. — Two justices of the 
peace are elected by the voters of each precinct to hold 
office for a term of four years. Each justice of the peace 
presides in a court of his own and has jurisdiction in all 
actions founded on contract where the sum claimed does 
not exceed one hundred dollars ; in all actions of forcible 
entry and unlawful detainer ; and in all actions founded 
on any wrong or injury done where the damages claimed 
do not exceed fifty dollars, except in actions for slander 
and some others. Justices of the peace also have criminal 
jurisdiction in certain minor misdemeanors, and they sit 
as magistrates in the preliminary trial of higher offences 
to determine whether the accused persons shall be bound 
over to await the action of the higher courts. 

106. The Notary Public. — The governor has power to 
appoint one notary public with the same jurisdiction as 
the justices of the peace in each election precinct in the 
county and one for each ward in cities of over five thou- 
sand inhabitants. He may also appoint notaries whose 
powers are strictly notarial — such as taking acknowledg- 
ments of deeds, mortgages, and other instruments. 

107. The Constable. — There is also elected for a term 
of four years by the voters of each precinct a constable, 
who is the executive officer of the justices 1 courts, hold- 
ing very much the same relations to these courts that the 
sheriffs hold to the higher courts. 

The Township. 

108. The Township.— In Alabama, the township, which 
is a tract of land six miles square, is organized only for 
school purposes, 1 and the inhabitants of each township 

1 The political unit known as the " township " in the Middle and West- 
ern States and the " town " in the New England States, does not exist 
in Alabama. Here, as in other Southern States, the county is the unit 
of political organization and performs most of the functions of local 
government which in the North and West are performed, in a greater 
or less degree, by the " townships " or " towns." 



64 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

are incorporated therefor according to the numbers of the 
land surveys of the United States. Three school trustees 
are appointed by the county superintendent of education 
for each township, except where their election has been 
provided for by special legislation. The township trus- 
tees have power to establish schools and to contract with 
teachers. It is their duty, in consultation with the parents 
and guardians of the school children of the township, at a 
meeting held on the last Monday of October, to determine 
the number and location of schools for the township, the 
time of opening and the length of session. They have 
charge of the renting, leasing, and selling of any school 
lands in the township. Their only compensation is ex- 
emption from road and jury duty and from the payment 
of a poll-tax. 

Municipal Government. 
109. The Town. — There are only two grades of mu- 
nicipal governments organized under the laws of Alabama 
— the town and the city. The inhabitants of a village, 1 
the population of which is not less than one hundred nor 
more than three thousand, may become a body corporate 
upon a petition in writing, addressed to the probate judge 
of the county in which they reside. The petition must 
be signed by twenty or more adult male inhabitants and 
it must set forth the name by which it is proposed to in- 
corporate the town and the territorial limits of the pro- 
posed corporation. The boundaries of the town cannot 
be fixed until a majority of the owners of the real estate 
situated within such boundaries have expressed their as- 
sent. 2 

1 The term village is generally applied in Alabama to any small 
assemblage of houses which has not been incorporated. The term 
hamlet is rarely used here in this sense. 

2 Frequently towns, instead of being incorporated under the general 
laws of the State by the process here indicated, obtain special charters 



MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 65 

HO. Town Officers, and the Functions of Town 
Government. — The business of the town corporation is 
managed by an intendant and five councillors, styled the 
corporate authorities, who are elected for one year. The 
corporate authorities have power to pass such by-laws and 
ordinances as may be necessary and are not contrary to 
law ; to prevent and remove nuisances ; to license and tax 
various employments and businesses ; to restrain and pro- 
hibit gaming, disorderly conduct, and breaches of the 
peace ; to establish and regulate markets and town prisons ; 
to appoint a marshal, treasurer, clerk, and other necessary 
officers ; to purchase, hold, and dispose of propert}^ ; and 
to exercise such other powers as are conferred on them by 
law. The intendant has the powers and jurisdiction of a 
justice of the peace in all matters, civil and criminal, aris- 
ing within the corporate limits of the town. The marshal 
has authority, within the corporate limits, to execute the 
lawful ordinances of the corporate authorities; and he 
must, without warrant, arrest all persons breaking the 
peace or violating any ordinance. 

111. The City. — In Alabama no dividing line based 
upon population has been fixed between the town and 
the city ; nor have cities been classed into grades upon a 
basis of population or otherwise. Usually a town does 
not apply for a city charter until its population has reached 
two or three thousand. Not unfrequently, however, charters 
are obtained for prospective cities that never go through 
the town stage of municipal development. The city is a 
corporation created by a special act of the General Assem- 
bly known as a charter. The charter names the city, enu- 
merates its powers and privileges, creates the more import- 
ant city offices, and provides for the election or appoint- 

from the General Assembly. In such cases the organization and the 
powers of the town government are determined by the special act 
creating the municipality. 
5 



66 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

ment of city officials. 1 The charter may be amended from 
time to time, by an act of the General Assembly. 

112. Functions of City Government. — It is the busi- 
ness of the city government to provide an adequate police 
force for the protection of life and property ; to maintain 
charitable and educational institutions ; to keep up streets 
and public parks ; to maintain or to regulate water-works, 
gas-works, electric lights, etc. ; to provide protection from 
fire ; and to perform such other duties for the well-being 
of its inhabitants as its charter may require or permit. 

113. The Council, or Board of Aldermen. — All the 
laws or ordinances necessary for the local government of 
the city are made by a representative body usually known 
as a board of aldermen or council, the members of which 
are elected from the different wards into which the city is 
divided. The board usually exercises all the powers con- 
ferred by statute upon the corporate authorities of the 
town, and such other powers as may be specially con- 
ferred upon it by the city charter. 

114. The Mayor is the chief executive officer of the 
city, and is responsible for its good order and efficient 
government. His term of office and the special duties 
incumbent upon him are determined by the charter of 
the city. The various executive offices of the city, in- 
cluding the police force, are, in most cases, directly under 
his control and supervision. He usually presides over the 
meetings of the council. He holds, in most of the smaller 
cities, a court known as the mayor's court, which has con- 
current jurisdiction with the county courts in the trial of 
misdemeanors as well as jurisdiction of offences against 
the city ordinances. 

1 The city governments of Alabama differ so much in matters of de- 
tail that no one can be taken as a perfect type of all. City teachers 
should require pupils to study the government of their own city in the 
class-rooms. Copies of city charters for this purpose can usually be 
obtained from the city officials. 



MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 67 

115. The City Clerk. — In some of the cities the clerk 
is appointed by the council and in others he is elected by 
the voters. It is his duty to attend the meetings of the 
council, to keep the minutes of its proceedings, and to 
publish the ordinances adopted. He has charge of all 
the books, records, and papers of the city. In some of 
the cities his duties are merged with those of other 
officers — such as tax-assessor, or tax-collector. 

116. The City Attorney. — Usually the council elects a 
city attorney, who is the legal adviser of the city authori- 
ties and represents the city in all cases in which it is a 
party at interest. 

117. The Marshal is the chief of police in the smaller 
cities. It is his duty to arrest all violators of the law ; to 
serve all papers issued by the mayor ; and to attend the 
mayor's court. His duties and powers are similar to those 
of the sheriff and constable. 

118. Municipal Revenues. — The income necessary to 
carry on the government of towns and cities is raised 
chiefly by taxing and licensing various employments and 
by taxing the real and personal property situated within 
the corporate limits. Very wide liberty is given the mu- 
nicipal authorities in the matter of taxing and licensing 
employments and businesses ; but the constitution of the 
State limits the rate of municipal taxation upon property 
to one-half of one per centum upon its valuation, except 
as provided in the constitution. 1 An act of the General 
Assembly approved February 18, 1895, provided for the ap- 
pointment by the mayor and council of every municipal- 
ity in the State having one thousand or more inhabitants, 
of two appraisers of property situated or taxable within 
the corporate limits of such municipality. It is their duty 
to appraise the property, listed for taxation by the county 
tax-assessor, within such municipality. The appraisers 

1 See Art. XL Sect. 7. 



68 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

are paid two dollars and a half a day while engaged, pro- 
vided that they shall not be employed more than twenty 
days in municipalities of less than five thousand inhabit- 
ants nor more than thirty da}rs in those having over five 
thousand inhabitants. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HOW OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN BY THE ELECTORS. 

119. Political Parties. — Among the most efficient fac- 
tors in the government of the people in a free country are 
the organizations known as political parties. When any 
measure of absorbing public interest arises which must be 
decided upon by the voters, it is perfectly natural that 
those favoring the measure should unite into one organiz- 
ation, and those opposing it into another. It was such a 
division that marked the beginning of political parties 
under the present government of the United States. 

120. The Origin of Parties in the United States. — 
When the Constitution framed at Philadelphia in 1787 ' 
was submitted to the people of the States for ratification, 
those who favored its adoption were called " Federalists,' 1 
and those who opposed its adoption were called " Anti- 
Federalists." This was the first real division of the peo- 
ple of the United States into political parties. Of course 
there had been divisions among the people on political 
subjects before that time; but the issues presented had 
not been broad or general enough to divide all the people 
of the whole country into two opposing organizations. 

121. Underlying- Principles in American Politics. — 
After the adoption of the Constitution, those who had 
favored its adoption were generally advocates of a strong 
central government — that is, they wished to give to the 
government of the United States as much power as could 
be drawn from a loose or liberal construction of the Con- 

1 See f 61. 

69 



70 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

stitution. On the other hand, those who had opposed its 
adoption became advocates of a strict construction of the 
Constitution, so as to limit the power of the Federal gov- 
ernment, and to maintain, as far as possible under that 
instrument, the power of the individual States. In spite 
of the fact that a number of political parties and factions 
have arisen in this country, based upon temporary or local 
issues, the main line of division here indicated, although 
at times somewhat obscured, can be traced through the 
whole course of our political history since the adoption 
of the Constitution. 1 

122. Advantages of Political Organization. — It is 
through political organization that electors can make their 
combined influence and votes effective in the choice of 
officers and in the determination of governmental poli- 
cies. In all political parties minor individual differences 
of opinion are held in abeyance, so that those who agree 
upon the most important issues before the people can 
work and vote together. The individual elector acting 
and voting without reference to others can never make his 
influence felt in public affairs. A thousand men with in- 
dividual blows from walking-sticks could not batter down 
a door which would fall in an instant before a great beam 
hurled against it by the combined strength of twenty men. 
Again, the division of the people into political parties works 
in the interest of honest government. The party in charge 
of municipal, county, State, or national government is 
closely watched by the party or parties out of power. 
This jealous watching of public officials in the discharge 
of their duties tends to make a careful administration of 
public affairs, and insures the exposure of corrupt political 
practices. Then, again, the working of the machinery of 

1 While political parties usually grow out of differences among the 
people on questions of national interest, party contests also divide the 
people in State, county, and municipal elections. This results from the 
close connection, at many points, between local and national interests. 



HOW OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN BY THE ELECTORS. 71 

political parties greatly facilitates the election of officers, 
as will appear in the succeeding paragraphs. 

123. How Parties are Organized. — The interests of 
the different political parties are managed by committees, 
at the head of each of which stands a chairman as chief 
executive officer. In a perfectly organized political party 
there would be a committee for each voting precinct in the 
county and for each ward in the town or city ; but such 
thorough organization is rarely attained by any party. 
The interests of each party in the State are cared for by a 
State executive committee, and at the head of each party 
organization in the country stands the national executive 
committee. The power of the more important committees 
over the subordinate ones differs in the different parties 
and in different localities, according to customs or prece- 
dents, more or less established, popularly known as "party 
law." 

124. The Selection of Candidates. — The first step to- 
wards the selection of candidates for all elective offices is 
taken by the electors of the different parties in their pre- 
cinct or ward meetings, usually called " primaries." In 
these meetings the recognized members only of the party 
holding the meetings can participate. Sometimes in the 
primaries the electors vote directly for the candidates of 
their choice — and this is always the case where precinct 
or ward officers are to be chosen — but generally these 
meetings elect delegates to represent the precinct or ward 
in the county or city convention of the party. The dele- 
gates meet at the time appointed by the county or city 
executive committee, organize a convention, and proceed 
to nominate candidates for offices. If State officers are 
also to be nominated, the county convention sends dele- 
gates to the State convention; and when candidates for 
president and vice-president are to be nominated, the State 
convention sends delegates to the national convention of 
the party. County conventions also send delegates to the 



72 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

conventions of the State senatorial districts, where the dis- 
trict is composed of more than one county, and to the con- 
ventions of the congressional districts, the judicial circuits 
and the chancery divisions. The representation to which 
precincts are entitled in the county conventions ; counties 
in the State, congressional, and judicial conventions ; and 
States in the national conventions, is based, either directly 
or indirectly, upon the population of each of these poli- 
tical divisions as given by the last preceding census. 

125. The People Rule. — It will thus be seen that al- 
though a national convention, composed of a few hun- 
dred delegates, nominates candidates for President and 
Vice-President and puts forth the party's declaration of 
principles and policies, usually called a " platform," those 
delegates are acting only as the representatives of the 
electors who held the precinct primaries. If the delegates 
are faithful representatives, they only voice the sentiments 
and convictions of the majority of the electors who set in 
motion the political machinery at the precinct primary. 
Thus the people rule. With the individual electors of 
the different political parties rests, therefore, the responsi- 
bility of sending as their delegates to the various political 
conventions men who are honest and capable — men who 
will, in turn, delegate their delegated powers to capable 
and honest men. Good government rests, in a last an- 
alysis, upon the foundation of the watchfulness, the hon- 
esty, and the intelligence of the people. 

126. Elections. — The choice of public officers begins, 
as has just been explained, with the nomination of candi- 
dates by the opposing political parties. 1 The next step is 
the election. Elections in Alabama are now held under 
what is popularly called the " Sayre election law " — a modi- 

1 Sometimes there are " independent " movements outside of the usual 
political organizations ; but such movements are generally local and 
temporary, rarely extending beyond city or county politics. 



HOW OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN BY THE ELECTORS. 73 

fixation of what is known as the Australian ballot system — 
which was approved February 21, 1893, and which was 
amended by an act of the General Assembly, approved 
February 18, 1895. Elections for State and county officers 
are held on the first Monday of August of the even years. 
Members of Congress and presidential electors are elected 
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. 
Municipal officers are chosen at such times as are provided 
by the charters of each of the municipalities. 

127. Registrars. — The governor appoints in each county 
a registrar of voters who holds office for four years. The 
registrar must appoint an assistant registrar for each pre- 
cinct or ward, whose duty it is to make, under his super- 
vision, a registration of the qualified electors l residing in 
such precincts or wards. The registration begins on the 
first Monday in May and continues for eighteen days, 
Sundays excepted ; but in cities of ten thousand inhab- 
itants or more, thirty days are allowed for registration. 
The assistant registrars must also be present at the polls 
on election day to register such persons as may have 
reached the age of twenty-one years since the last regis- 
tration, and such other persons as are provided for in the 
law as amended. 

128. Making the Ticket. — The judge of probate in 
each county is charged with having the ballots properly 
prepared, printed, and distributed to the voting-places in 
the different precincts or wards. It is his duty to have 
printed upon the ballot the names of all candidates for 
the different offices that have been nominated by any 
political party or faction, and whose nomination has been 
properly certified to him by the officers of the nominating 
convention, mass meeting, or caucus. The judge of pro- 
bate must also cause to be printed on the ticket the name 
of any qualified elector who has been regularly petitioned 

1 See fl CO. 



74 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

in writing to become a candidate for any county or mu- 
nicipal office by not less than twenty-five voters. In the 
case of a candidate for a State or Federal office, who has 
not been regularly nominated by some party or faction, 
he must be petitioned in writing by not less than five 
hundred electors in order to have his name placed on the 
ticket. Where the candidates are to be voted for by the 
electors of the whole State, or of an entire congressional 
district, judicial circuit, or chancery division, the certifi- 
cate of nomination must be filed, within the prescribed 
time, with the secretary of state, who must immediately 
certify the same to the probate judges of the different 
counties. The names of the candidates for the same 
office must be printed alphabetically under the title of 
such office. 

129. Election Officers. — The judge of probate, the 
sheriff, and the clerk of the circuit court, or any two of 
them, must appoint, at least thirty days before the hold- 
ing of any election in their county, three inspectors for 
each place of voting, two of whom must be members of 
opposing political parties. They must also appoint one 
" returning officer " for each precinct. Notice to these 
officials and notice to the public of the approaching elec- 
tion must be given by the sheriff as provided by law. On 
opening the polls the inspectors must appoint two " mark- 
ers," one from each of the opposing political parties, whose 
duty it is to assist illiterate or physically disabled electors 
in preparing their ballots. The markers and the clerks of 
election must be appointed by the inspectors from lists of 
persons not less than six nor more than ten in any one 
beat, who may be suggested by the authorities of the 
opposing political parties. 

130. Casting" the Ballot. — It is the duty of the sheriff 
to provide at each voting-place a number of booths or com- 
partments fixed with conveniences for marking the ballots. 
On entering the room where the election is being held, the 



HOW OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN BY THE ELECTORS. 75 

elector receives from one of the inspectors a ballot, retires 
to one of the booths, and there prepares the ballot, with 
or without the assistance of a marker, by placing a cross 
mark (X) before the name of the candidate of his choice 
for each office to be filled. When the ballot of the elector 
is thus prepared, he must fold it so as to conceal its face, 
and hand it to the receiving inspector, by whom it is de- 
posited in the ballot-box. 

131. Counting the Vote. — The voting-places in each 
precinct or ward must be opened between eight and nine 
o'clock in the morning and kept open, without intermis- 
sion or adjournment, until the hour of five in the after- 
noon, and no longer. As soon as the polls are closed, it is 
the duty of the inspectors to count the vote. When the 
ballots are counted, the inspectors must make a statement 
in writing of the number of votes received for each person 
and for what office. They must also certify to a list of 
voters, called a poll list, who have voted in the election, 
and the statement of the votes and the poll list, with a list 
of the registered voters in the ward or precinct, must be 
sealed up in a box addressed to the sheriff of the county 
and placed in the hands of the returning officer of the 
precinct. After the ballots have been counted and a state- 
ment of votes made, the inspectors must roll up the ballots 
and label them, and seal them up in a box with a dupli- 
cate poll list, and this sealed box must be kept by one of 
the inspectors for sixty days. At the end of that time, if 
no contest of the election has been instituted, the ballots 
must be destroyed. 

132. Declaration of the Result. — On the Saturday 
next following the election, at the hour of twelve, meri- 
dian, the sheriff, who is the returning officer for the county, 
the judge of probate, and the clerk of the circuit court, act- 
ing as a board of supervisors, meet at the court-house, and, 
in the presence of such persons as choose to attend, make 
a correct statement from the returns of the votes of the sev- 



76 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

eral precincts of the county, of the whole number of votes 
given therein for each officer, and the persons to whom 
such votes were given. Within ten days after ascertain- 
ing the result of an election of county officers, the board 
of supervisors must make a public declaration of the 
same as provided by law. As soon as the board of super- 
visors has ascertained the result of an election, they must 
certify the same to the secretary of state, except as to the 
election for governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, 
superintendent of education, and attorney-general, which 
must be forwarded by the judge of probate to the governor 
for the speaker of the House of Representatives at least 
ten days before the time for the next meeting of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. All returns required by law to be sent to 
the secretary of state must be opened and counted within 
fifteen days after the election in the presence of the gov- 
ernor, secretary of state, and attorney-general. The gov- 
ernor must give notice by proclamation of the election of 
such officers as are not required by law to be publicly de- 
clared by the county board of supervisors. 

133. The Officer-elect. — When the election of an of- 
ficer has been declared as provided by law he is only an 
officer-elect. If the term of his predecessor has not ex- 
pired, he must wait for such expiration. Where a bond 
is required, as is the case with most public officials, he 
must have it approved by such officer as is authorized by 
law to approve it, before a commission can be issued to 
him. As a final step, before entering on the discharge of 
his duties he must take the prescribed oath of office. 1 

134. Election Contests. — The judge of probate has 
original jurisdiction in the trial of all election contests for 
precinct offices and for all offices filled by the vote of a 
single county, except those of representatives and senators 
in the General Assembly. Such contests must be begun 

1 See Art. XV. Sect. 1. 



HOW OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN BY THE ELECTORS. 77 

within fifteen days after a declaration of the results of the 
election. The person whose election is thus contested is 
entitled to a trial by jury, the issue to be made up under 
the direction of the court and a jury summoned as in 
other cases in the probate court. The circuit judge has 
jurisdiction of the trial of contests of election of probate 
judges, while the chancellor of the division in which the 
election w T as held has jurisdiction in the contest of the 
election of any circuit judge. In contests before a pro- 
bate judge an appeal lies to the circuit court, and cases 
before the circuit judge or chancellor may be appealed to 
the supreme court. 

Each house of the General Assembly is a judge of the 
qualification of its own members, 1 and hence contests for 
seats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate 
must be tried before those bodies. 

An act of the General Assembly approved February 16, 
1895, provided for the trial of election contests for gov- 
ernor, secretary of state, State auditor, State treasurer, and 
attorney-general by the two houses of the General Assem- 
bly sitting as a tribunal in joint convention presided over 
by the speaker of the House of Representatives. The 
contest may be inaugurated by any qualified elector on 
any of the following grounds : 1. Malconduct, fraud, or 
corruption on the part of any inspector, clerk, returning 
officer, member of board of supervisors, or marker. 2. 
When the person declared to be elected to office was not 
eligible thereto at the time of such election ; 3. On ac- 
count of illegal votes ; 4. On account of the rejection of 
legal votes ; and 5. On account of bribery, intimidation, 
or other malconduct which prevented a fair, free, and full 
exercise of the elective franchise. The contestant must 
give bond in the sum of $5000 to cover the costs of the 
contest in case it results in favor of the contestee. When 



1 See Art. IV. Sect. 8. 



78 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ALABAMA. 

a contest is instituted the joint convention appoints a com- 
mission of three senators and five representatives to take 
testimony in the matter. The commission must examine 
the evidence and report its conclusions to the joint conven- 
tion; and all testimony taken by it must be returned to 
the speaker of the House. A majority of the joint con- 
vention constitutes a quorum to try all issues involved in 
the contest. 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

STATE OF ALABAMA 

18T5. 1 

»o^oo 



PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the State of Alabama, in order to establish 
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure to ourselves and 
to our posterity life, liberty, and property, profoundly grateful to 
Almighty God for this inestimable right, and invoking His favor 
and guidance, do ordain and establish the following Constitution 
and form of government for the State of Alabama. 

ARTICLE I. 

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 

That the great, general and essential principles of liberty and 
free government may be recognized and established, we declare, — 

Section 1. That all men are equally free and independent ; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable 
rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. 

Sec. 2. That all persons resident in this State, born in the 
United States, or naturalized, or who shall have legally declared 
their intention to become citizens of the United States, are hereby 
declared citizens of the State of Alabama, possessing equal civil 
and political rights. 

1 Became operative December 6th, 1875. 

79 



80 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 3. That all political power is inherent in the people, and 
all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted 
for their benefit, and that, therefore, they have at all times an in- 
alienable and indefeasible right to change their form of govern- 
ment, in such manner as they may deem expedient. 

Sec. 4. That no religion shall be established by law ; that no 
preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, 
denomination, or mode of worship ; that no one shall be compelled 
by law to attend any place of worship, nor to pay any tithes, 
taxes, or other rate, for building or repairing any place of wor- 
ship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry ; that no re- 
ligious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust, under this State ; and that the civil rights, privileges, 
and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected 
by his religious principles. 

Sec. 5. That any citizen may speak, write, and publish his 
sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that 
liberty. 

Sec. 6. That the people shall be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and possessions, from unreasonable seizures or 
searches ; and that no warrant shall issue to search any place, or 
to seize any person or thing, without probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation. 

Sec. 7. That in all criminal prosecutions the accused has a 
right to be heard by himself and counsel, or either ; to demand 
the nature and cause of the accusation ; to have a copy thereof; 
to be confronted by the witnesses against him ; to have compul- 
sory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and in all pros- 
ecutions by indictment, a speedy public trial, by an impartial 
jury of the county or district in which the offense was committed ; 
and that he shall not be compelled to give evidence against him- 
self, nor be deprived of his life, liberty, or property but by due 
process of law. 

Sec. 8. That no person shall be accused, or arrested, or de- 
tained, except in cases ascertained by law, and according to the 
forms which the same has prescribed; and no person shall be 
punished but by virtue of a law established and promulgated prior 
to the offense, and legally applied. 

Sec. 9. That no person shall, for any indictable offense, be 
proceeded against criminally, by information; except in cases 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 81 

arising in the militia and volunteer forces when in actual service, 
or, by leave of the court, for misfeasance, misdemeanor, extortion 
and oppression in office, otherwise than is provided in this Con- 
stitution ; Provided, That in cases of petit larceny, assault, assault 
and battery, affray, unlawful assemblies, vagrancy, and other mis- 
demeanors, the general assembly may, by law, dispense with a 
grand jury, and authorize such prosecutions and proceedings 
before justices of the peace, or such other inferior courts as may 
be by law established. 

Sec. 10. That no person shall, for the same offense, be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb. 

Sec. 11. That no person shall be debarred from prosecuting or 
defending, before any tribunal in this State, by himself or counsel, 
any civil cause to which he is a party. 

Sec. 12. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. 

Sec. 13. That in prosecutions for the publication of papers 
investigating the official conduct of officers or men in public 
capacity, or when the matter published is proper for public infor- 
mation, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and that in 
all indictments for libel, the jury shall have the right to deter- 
mine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court. 

Sec. 14. That all courts shall be open; and that every person, 
for any injury done him, in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, 
shall have a remedy by due process of law ; and right and justice 
shall be administered without sale, denial, or delay. 

Sec. 15. That the State of Alabama shall never be made 
defendant in any court of law or equity. 

Sec. 16. That excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel or 
unusual punishments inflicted. 

Sec. 17. That all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable 
by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses, when the proof is 
evident, or the presumption great ; and that excessive bail shall 
not, in any case, be required. 

Sec. 18. That the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 
not be suspended by the authorities of this State. 

Sec. 19. That treason against the State shall consist only in 
levying war against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving- them 
aid and comfort; and that no person shall be convicted of treason, 
except on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 
6 



82 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 20. That no person shall be attainted of treason by the 
general assembly ; and that no conviction shall work corruption 
of blood, or forfeiture of estate. 

Sec. 21. That no person shall be imprisoned for debt. 

Sec. 22. That no power of suspending laws shall be exercised, 
except by the general assembly. 

Sec. 23. That no ex post facto law, or any law impairing the 
obligation of contracts, or making any irrevocable grants a special 
privileges or immunities, shall be passed by the general assembly. 

Sec. 24. That the exercise of the right of eminent domain 
shall never be abridged, nor so construed as to prevent the general 
assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated 
companies, and subjecting them to public use the same as indi- 
viduals. But private property shall not be taken or applied for 
public use, unless just compensation be first made therefor ; nor 
shall private property be taken for private use, or for the use of 
corporations, other than municipal, without the consent of the 
owner ; Provided, however, That the general assembly may, by law, 
secure to persons or corporations the right of way over the lands 
of other persons or corporations, and by general laws provide for 
and regulate the exercise by persons and corporations of the rights 
herein reserved; but just compensation shall, in all cases, be first 
made to the owner ; And provided, That the right of eminent 
domain shall not be so construed as to allow taxation or forced 
subscriptions for the benefit of railroads or any other kind of cor- 
porations other than municipal, or for the benefit of any individual 
or association. 

Sec. 25. That all navigable waters shall remain forever public 
highways, free to the citizens of the State, and of the United 
States, without tax, impost, or toll ; and that no tax, toll, impost, 
or wharfage shall be demanded or received from the owner of any 
merchandise or commodity, for the use of the shores, or any wharf 
erected on the shores, or in or over the waters of any navigable 
stream, unless the same be expressly authorized by law. 

Sec. 26. That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, 
to assemble together for the common good, and to apply to those 
invested with the power of government for redress of grievances, 
or other purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance. 

Sec. 27. That every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense 
of himself and the State. 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 83 

Sec. 28. That no standing army shall be kept up without the 
consent of the general assembly ; and, in that case, no appro- 
priation for its support shall be made for a longer term than one 
year ; and the military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in 
strict subordination to the civil power. 

Sec. 29. That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered 
in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 30. That no title of nobility, or hereditary distinction, 
privilege, honor, or emolument, shall ever be granted or conferred 
in this State ; and that no office shall be created, the appointment 
to which shall be for a longer time than during good behavior. 

Sec. 31. That immigration shall be encouraged ; emigration 
shall not be prohibited ; and that no citizen shall be exiled. 

Sec. 32. That temporary absence from the State shall not cause 
a forfeiture of residence once obtained. 

Sec. 33. That no form of slavery shall exist in this State ; and 
there shall be no involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the 
punishment of crime, of which the party shall have been duly 
convicted. 

Sec. 34. The right of suffrage shall be protected by laws regu- 
lating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all un- 
due influences from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper 
conduct. 

Sec. 35. The people of this State accept as final the established 
fact, that from the Federal Union there can be no secession of any 
State. 

Sec. 36. Foreigners who are, or may hereafter become, bona 
fide residents of this State shall enjoy the same rights in respect 
to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as 
native-born citizens. 

Sec. 37. That the sole object and only legitimate end of 
government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, 
liberty and property ; and when the government assumes other 
functions it is usurpation and oppression. 

Sec. 38. No educational or property qualification for suffrage 
or office, nor any restraint upon the same on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude shall be made by law. 

Sec. 39. That this enumeration of certain rights shall not im- 
pair or deny others retained by the people. 



84 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

ARTICLE II. 

STATE AND COUNTY BOUNDARIES. 

Section 1. The boundaries of this State are established and 
declared to be as follows, that is to say : Beginning at the point 
where the thirty-first degree of north latitude crosses the Perdido 
river ; thence east, to the western boundary line of the State of 
Georgia ; thence along said line to the southern boundary line of 
the State of Tennessee ; thence west, along the southern boundary 
line of the State of Tennessee, crossing the Tennessee river, and 
on to the second intersection of said river by said line ; thence up 
said river to the mouth of Big Bear creek ; thence by a direct line 
to the northwest corner of Washington county, in this State, as 
originally formed ; thence southerly along the line of the State of 
Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico ; thence eastwardly, including 
all islands within six leagues of the shore, to the Perdido river ; 
thence up the said river to the beginning. 

Sec. 2. The boundaries of the several counties of this State, as 
heretofore established by law, are hereby ratified and confirmed. 
The general assembly may, by a vote of two-thirds of both houses 
thereof, arrange and designate boundaries for the several counties 
of this State, which boundaries shall not be altered, except by a 
like vote ; but no new counties shall be hereafter formed of less 
extent than six hundred square miles; and no existing county 
shall be reduced to less extent than six hundred square miles; 
and no new county shall be formed which does not contain a 
sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle it to one representative, 
under the ratio of representation existing at the time of its for- 
mation, and leave the county or counties from which it is taken 
with the required number of inhabitants entitling such county or 
counties to separate representation. 

ARTICLE III. 

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

Section 1. The powers of the Government of the State of 
Alabama shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of 
which shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to-wit : 
Those which are legislative, to one ; those which are executive, to 
another; and those which are judicial, to another. 

Sec. 2. No person, or collection of persons, being of one of 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 85 

those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging 
to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter ex- 
pressly directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested 
in a general assembly, which shall consist of a senate and house 
of representatives. 

Sec. 2. The style of the laws of this State shall be : " Be it 
enacted by the General Assembly of Alabama." Each law shall 
contain but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its 
title, except general appropriation bills, general revenue bills, and 
bills adopting a code, digest, or revision of statutes ; and no law 
shall be revived, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or 
conferred, by reference to its title only ; but so much thereof as is 
revived, amended, extended, or conferred, shall be re-enacted and 
published at length. 

Sec. 3. Senators and representatives shall be elected by the 
qualified electors on the first Monday in August, eighteen hundred 
and seventy-six, and one-half of the senators and all the repre- 
sentatives shall be elected every two years thereafter, unless the 
general assembly shall change the time of holding elections. The 
terms of the office of the senators shall be four years and that of 
the representatives two years, commencing on the day after the 
general election, except as otherwise provided in this Constitu- 
tion. 

Sec. 4. Senators shall be at least twenty-seven years of age, 
and representatives twenty-one years of age ; they shall have been 
citizens and inhabitants of this State for three years, and inhab- 
itants of their respective counties or districts one year next before 
their election, if such county or district shall have been so long 
established, but if not, then of the county or district from which 
the same shall have been taken ; and they shall reside in their 
respective counties or districts during their terms of service. 

Sec. 5. The general assembly shall meet biennially, at the 
capitol, in the senate chamber and in the hall of the house of rep- 
resentatives (except in cases of destruction of the capitol, or epi- 
demics, when the governor may convene them at such place in 

H 



86 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

the State as he may deem best), on the day specified in this Con- 
stitution, or on such other day as may be prescribed by law, and 
shall not remain in session longer than sixty days at the first ses- 
sion held under this Constitution, nor longer than fifty days at 
any subsequent session. 

Sec. 6. The pay of the members of the general assembly shall 
be four dollars per day, and ten cents per mile in going to and 
returning from the seat of government, to be computed by the 
nearest usual route traveled. 

Sec. 7. The general assembly shall consist of not more than 
thirty-three senators, and not more than one hundred members of 
the house of representatives, to be apportioned among the several 
districts and counties as prescribed in this Constitution. 

Sec. 8. The senate, at the beginning of each regular session, 
and at such other times as may be necessary, shall elect one of its 
members president thereof, and the house of representatives, at 
the beginning of each regular session, shall elect one of its mem- 
bers as speaker, and the president of the senate and the speaker 
of the house of representatives shall hold their offices respectively 
until their successors are elected and qualified. Each house shall 
choose its own officers, and shall judge of the election, returns and 
qualifications of its members. 

Sec. 9. At the general election in the year eighteen hundred 
and seventy-six, senators shall be elected in the even-numbered 
districts to serve for two years, and in the odd-numbered districts 
to serve for four years, so that hereafter one-half of the senators 
may be chosen biennially. Members of the house of represen- 
tatives shall be elected at the general election every second year. 
The time of service of senators and representatives shall begin on 
the day after their election, except the terms of those elected in 
the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six, which shall not begin 
until the term of the present members shall have expired. When- 
ever a vacancy shall occur in either house, the governor for the 
time being shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy for the 
remainder of the term. 

Sec. 10. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum 
to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such 
manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. 

Sec. 11. Each house shall have power to determine the rules of 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 87 

its proceedings, and to punish its members, or other persons, for 
contempt or disorderly behavior in its presence ; to enforce obedi- 
ence to its process ; to protect its members against violence, or 
offers of bribes or corrupt solicitations ; and, with the concurrence 
of two-thirds of either house, to expel a member, but not a second 
time for the same cause ; and shall have all the powers necessary 
for the legislature of a free State. 

Sec. 12. A member of either house expelled for corruption 
shall not thereafter be eligible to either house, and punishment 
for contempt or disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment 
for the same offense. 

Sec. 13. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and cause the same to be published immediately after its adjourn- 
ment, excepting such parts as, in its judgment, may require 
secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on 
any question shall, at the desire of one-tenth of the members 
present, be entered on the journals. Any member of either house 
shall have liberty to dissent from, or protest against, any act or 
resolution which he may think injurious to the public or an indi- 
vidual, and have the reasons for his dissent entered on the 
journals. 

Sec. 14. Members of the general assembly shall, in all cases, 
except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and breach 
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at 
the session of their respective houses, and in going to and return- 
ing from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 15. The doors of each house shall be open, except on 
such occasions as, in the opinion of the house, may require 
secrecy. 

Sec. 16. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which they may be sitting. 

Sec. 17. No senator or representative shall, during the term 
for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil 
office of profit under this State, which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments of which shall have been increased during such 
term, except such offices as may be filled by election by the 
people. 

Sec. 18. No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of the 



88 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

public money, bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime, shall be 
eligible to the general assembly, or capable of holding #ny office 
of trust or profit in this state. 

Sec. 19. No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill 
shall be so altered or amended on its passage through either house 
as to change its original purpose. 

Sec. 20. No bill shall become a law until it shall have been 
referred to a committee of each house and returned therefrom. 

Sec. 21. Every bill shall be read on three different days in 
each house ; and no bill shall become a law unless, on its final 
passage, it be read at length, and the vote be taken by yeas and 
nays, the names of the members voting for and against the same 
be entered on the journals, and a majority of each house be re- 
corded thereon as voting in its favor, except as otherwise provided 
in this Constitution. 

Sec. 22. No amendment to bills by one house shall be con- 
curred in by the other, except by a vote of a majority thereof, 
taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and 
against recorded upon the journals ; and reports of committees of 
conference shall in like manner be adopted in each house. 

Sec. 23. No special or local law shall be enacted for the benefit 
of individuals or corporations, in cases which are or can be pro- 
vided for by a general law, or where the relief sought can be 
given by any court of this State ; nor shall the operation of any 
general law be suspended by the general assembly for the benefit 
of any individual, corporation, or association. 

Sec. 24. No local or special law shall be passed on a subject 
which cannot be provided for by a general law, unless notice of 
the intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the 
locality where the matter or things to be affected may be situated ; 
which notice shall be at least twenty days prior to the introduc- 
tion into the general assembly of such bill, and the evidence of 
such notice having been given shall be exhibited to the general 
assembly before such bill shall be passed ; Provided, That the pro- 
visions of this Constitution, as to special or local laws, shall not 
apply to public or educational institutions of or in this State, nor 
to industrial, mining, immigration, or manufacturing corporations 
or interests, or corporations for constructing canals, or improving 
navigable rivers or harbors of this State. 

Sec. 25. The general assembly shall pass general laws, under 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 89 

which local and private interests shall be provided for and pro- 
tected. 

Sec. 26. The general assembly shall have no power to author- 
ize lotteries or gift enterprises for any purpose, and shall pass laws 
to prohibit the sale of lottery or gift-enterprise tickets, or tickets 
in any scheme in the nature of a lottery, in this State ; and all 
acts, or parts of acts, heretofore passed by the general assembly 
of this State, authorizing a lottery or lotteries, and all acts amend- 
atory thereof, or supplemental thereto, are hereby avoided. 

Sec. 27. The presiding officer of each house shall, in the pres- 
ence of the house over which he presides, sign all bills and joint 
resolutions passed by the general assembly, after the titles have 
been publicly read immediately before signing, and the fact of 
signing shall be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 28. The general assembly shall prescribe by law the num- 
ber, duties, and compensation of the officers and employes of each 
house ; and no payment shall be made from the State treasury, or 
be in any way authorized to any person, except to an acting officer 
or employe, elected or appointed in pursuance of law. 

Sec. 29. No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensa- 
tion to any public officer, servant or employe, agent or contractor, 
after the services shall have been rendered, or contract made ; nor 
shall any officer of the State bind the State to the payment of any 
sum of money but by authority of law. 

Sec. 30. All stationery, printing, paper, and fuel used in the 
legislative and other departments of government, shall be fur- 
nished, and the printing, binding, and distribution of laws, 
journals, department reports, and all other printing and binding, 
and repairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the 
meetings of the general assembly, and its committees, shall be per- 
formed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible bidder 
below a maximum price, and under such regulations as shall be 
prescribed by law ; no member or officer of any department of the 
government shall be in any way interested in such contracts, and 
all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the governor, 
State auditor, and State treasurer. 

Sec. 31. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
house of representatives ; but the senate may propose amendments, 
as in other bills. 

Sec. 32. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing 



90 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

but appropriations for the ordinary expenses of the executive, 
legislative, and judicial departments of the State, interest on the 
public debt, and for the public schools ; all other appropriations 
shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject. 

Sec. 33. No money shall be paid out of the treasury except 
upon appropriations made by law, and on warrant drawn by the 
proper officer in pursuance thereof; and a regular statement and 
account of receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be 
published annually, in such manner as may be by law directed. 

Sec. 34. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or 
educational institution not under the absolute control of the State, 
other than normal schools established by law for the professional 
training of teachers for the public schools of the State, except by 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house. 

Sec. 35. No act of the general assembly shall authorize the in- 
vestment of any trust fund by executors, administrators, guardians, 
and other trustees, in the bonds or stock of any private corpora- 
tion ; and any such acts now existing are avoided, saving invest- 
ments heretofore made. 

Sec. 36. The power to change the venue, in civil and criminal 
causes, is vested in the courts, to be exercised in such manner as 
shall be provided by law. 

Sec. 37. When the general assembly shall be convened in 
special session, there shall be no legislation upon subjects other 
than those designated in the proclamation of the governor calling 
such session. 

Sec. 38. No State office shall be continued or created for the 
inspection or measuring of any merchandise, manufacture, or com- 
modity ; but any county or municipality may appoint such officers, 
when authorized by law. 

Sec. 39. No act of the general assembly changing the seat of 
government of the State shall become a law until the same shall 
have been submitted to the qualified electors of the State at a 
general election, and approved by a majority of such electors vot- 
ing on the same ; and such act shall specify the proposed new 
location. 

Sec. 40. A member of the general assembly, who shall cor- 
ruptly solicit, demand, or receive, or consent to receive, directly 
or indirectly, for himself or for another, from any company, cor- 
poration, or person, any money, office, appointment, employment, 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 91 

reward, thing of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage, or 
promise thereof, for his vote or official influence, or for withhold- 
ing the same ; or with an understanding, expressed or implied, 
that his vote or official action shall be in any way influenced 
thereby ; or who shall solicit or demand any such money or other 
advantage, matter or thing aforesaid, for another, as the considera- 
tion of his vote or official influence, or for withholding the same ; 
or shall give or withhold his vote or influence, in consideration of 
the payment or promise of such money, advantage, matter, or 
thing, to another, shall be guilty of bribery within the meaning 
of this Constitution, and shall incur the disabilities provided 
thereby for such offense, and such additional punishment as is, or 
shall be provided by law. 

Sec. 41. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, offer, 
give, or promise any money or thing of value, testimonial, privi- 
lege, or personal advantage, to any executive or judicial officer, or 
member of the general assembly, to influence him in the perform- 
ance of any of his public or official duties, shall be guilty of 
bribery, and be punished in such manner as shall be provided by 
law. 

Sec. 42. The offense of corrupt solicitation of members of the 
general assembly, or of public officers of this State, or of any 
municipal division thereof, and any occupation or practice of 
solicitation of such member or officers, to influence their official 
action, shall be defined by law, and shall be punished by fine and 
imprisonment. 

Sec. 43. A member of the general assembly, who has a per- 
sonal or private interest in any measure or bill, proposed or pend- 
ing before the general assembly, shall disclose the fact to the 
house of which he is a member, and shall not vote thereon. 

Sec. 44. In all elections by the general assembly, the mem- 
bers shall vote viva voce, and the votes shall be entered on the 
journals. 

Sec. 45. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to puss 
such laws as may be necessary and proper to decide differences by 
arbitrators, to be appointed by the parties who may choose that 
mode of adjustment. 

Sec. 46. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, at its 
first session after the ratification of this Constitution, and within 
every subsequent period of ten years, to make provision by law 



92 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

for the revision, digesting and promulgation of the public statutes 
of this State of a general nature, both civil and criminal. 

Sec. 47. The general assembly shall pass such penal laws as 
they may deem expedient to suppress the evil practice of dueling. 

Sec. 48. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to regu- 
late by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from the 
salaries of public officers, for neglect of duty in their official 
capacities, and the amount of such deductions. 

Sec. 49. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to 
require the several counties of this State to make adequate provi- 
sion for the maintenance of the poor. 

Sec. 50. The general assembly shall not have power to author- 
ize any municipal corporation to pass any laws inconsistent with 
the general laws of this State. 

Sec. 51. In the event of annexation of any foreign territory to 
this State, the general assembly shall enact laws extending to the 
inhabitants of the acquired territory all the rights and privileges 
which may be required by the terms of the acquisition, anything 
in this Constitution to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 52. The general assembly shall not tax the property, real 
and personal, of the State, counties, or other municipal corpora- 
tions, or cemeteries ; nor lots in incorporated cities or towns, or 
within one mile of any city or town, to the extent of one acre, nor 
lots one mile or more distant from such cities or towns, to the 
extent of five acres, with the buildings thereon, when the same 
are used exclusively for religious worship, for schools, or for 
purposes purely charitable ; nor such property, real or personal, 
to an extent not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars in value, 
as may be used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural asso- 
ciations of a public character. 

Sec. 53. The general assembly shall by law prescribe such 
rules and regulations as may be necessary to ascertain the value 
of personal and real property exempted from sale under legal 
process by this Constitution, and to secure the same to the claim- 
ant thereof as selected. 

Sec. 54. The State shall not engage in works of internal im- 
provement, nor lend money or its credit in aid of such ; nor shall 
the State be interested in any private or corporate enterprise, or 
lend money or its credit to any individual, association, or cor- 
poration. 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 93 

Sec. 55. The general assembly shall have no power to authorize 
any county, city, town, or other subdivision of this State, to lend 
its credit, or to grant public money or thing of value, in aid of, 
or to any individual, association, or corporation whatsoever, or to 
become a stockholder in any such corporation, association, or 
company, by issuing bonds, or otherwise. 

Sec. 56. There can be no law of this State impairing the 
obligation of contracts by destroying or impairing the remedy for 
their enforcement ; and the general assembly shall have no power 
to revive any right or remedy which may have become barred by 
lapse of time, or by any statute of this State. 

ARTICLE V. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The executive department shall consist of a gover- 
nor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, attorney- 
general, and superintendent of education, and a sheriff for each 
county. 

Sec. 2. The supreme executive power of this State shall be 
vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled " The Governor 
of the State of Alabama." 

Sec. 3. The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state 
auditor, and attorney-general shall be elected by the qualified 
electors of this State, at the same time and places appointed for 
the election of members of the general assembly. 

Sec. 4. The returns of every election for governor, secretary 
of state, state auditor, state treasurer, and attorney-general shall 
be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers to the seat 
of government, directed to the speaker of the house of represent- 
atives, who shall, during the first week of the session to which 
said returns shall be made, open and publish them in the pres- 
ence of both houses of the general assembly in joint convention. 
The person having the highest number of votes for either of said 
offices shall be declared duly elected; but if two or more shall 
have an equal and the highest number of votes for the same office, 
the general assembly, by joint vote, without delay, shall choose 
one of said persons for said office. Contested elections for gover- 
nor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, and attorney- 
general shall be determined by both houses of the general assem- 
bly in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 



94 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 5. The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state 
auditor, and attorney-general shall hold their respective offices 
for the term of two years from the time of their installation in 
office, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified. 

Sec. 6. The governor shall be at least thirty years of age when 
elected, and shall have been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and a resident citizen of this State at least seven years next 
before the day of his election. 

Sec. 7. The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state 
auditor, and attorney-general shall reside at the seat of govern- 
ment of this State during the time they continue in office, except 
in case of epidemics; and they shall receive compensation for 
their services, which shall be fixed by law, and which shall not be 
increased or diminished during the term for which they shall 
have been elected. 

Sec. 8. The governor shall take care that the laws be faith- 
fully executed. 

Sec. 9. The governor may require information in writing, 
under oath, from the officers of the executive department on any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices ; and he 
may, at any time, require information in writing, under oath, 
from all officers and managers of State institutions, upon any 
subject relating to the condition, management, and expenses of 
their respective offices and institutions ; and any such officer or 
manager who makes a false report, shall be guilty of perjury, and 
punished accordingly. 

Sec. 10. The governor may, by proclamation, on extraordinary 
occasions, convene the general assembly at the seat of govern- 
ment, or at a different place, if, since their last adjournment, that 
shall have become dangerous from an enemy, or from infectious 
or contagious diseases; and he shall state specifically in such 
proclamation each matter concerning which the action of that 
body is deemed necessary. 

Sec. 11. The governor shall, from time to time, give to the 
general assembly information of the state of the government, and 
recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem 
expedient; and, at the commencement of each session of the 
general assembly, and at the close of his term of office, give infor- 
mation, by written message, of the condition of the State ; and he 
shall account to the general assembly, as may be prescribed by 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 95 

law, for all moneys received and paid out by him, from any funds 
subject to his order, with the vouchers therefor ; and he shall, at 
the commencement of each regular session, present to the general 
assembly estimates of the amount of money required to be raised 
by taxation for all purposes. 

Sec. 12. The governor shall have power to remit fines and 
forfeitures, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed 
by law, and after conviction, to grant reprieves, commutation of 
sentence, and pardons (except in cases of treason and impeach- 
ment) ; but pardons, in cases of murder, arson, burglary, rape, 
assault with intent to commit rape, perjury, forgery, bribery, and 
larceny, shall not relieve from civil and political disability, unless 
specifically expressed in the pardon. Upon conviction of treason, 
the governor may suspend the execution of the sentence, and 
report the same to the general assembly at the next regular 
session, when the general assembly shall either pardon, commute 
the sentence, direct its execution, or grant further reprieve. He 
shall communicate to the general assembly, at every regular 
session, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, 
with his reasons therefor, stating the name and crime of the 
convict, the sentence, its date, and the date of the reprieve, 
commutation, or pardon. 

Sec. 13. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the 
general assembly, shall be presented to the governor ; if he 
approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it with his 
objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the objections at large upon the journals, and the 
house to which such bill shall be returned shall proceed to recon- 
sider it; if, after such reconsideration, a majority of the whole 
number elected to that house shall vote for the passage of such 
bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other house, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; if approved by a major- 
ity of the whole number elected to that house, it shall become a 
law, but in such cases the votes of both houses shall be deter- 
mined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting 
for or against the bill shall be entered upon the journals of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
governor within five days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the general assembly, by their adjourn- 



96 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

ment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 
And every order, vote, or resolution, to which the concurrence of 
both houses may be necessary (except questions of adjournment, 
and of bringing on elections by the two houses, and of amending 
this Constitution), shall be presented to the governor ; and, before 
the same shall take effect, be approved by him, or, being dis- 
approved, shall be repassed by both houses according to the rules 
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 14. The governor shall have power to disapprove of any 
item or items of any bill making appropriations of money, 
embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of bill approved 
shall be the law, and the item or items of appropriations dis- 
approved shall be void, unless repassed according to the rules and 
limitations prescribed for the passage of other bills over the 
executive veto; and he shall, in writing, state specifically the 
item or items he disapproves. 

Sec. 15. In case of the impeachment of the governor, his 
removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, absence 
from the State, or other disability, the president of the senate 
shall exercise all the power and authority appertaining to the 
office of governor, until the time appointed for the election of 
governor shall arrive, or until the governor who is absent, or 
impeached, shall return or be acquitted, or other disability be 
removed ; and if during such vacancy in the office of governor 
the president of the senate shall be impeached, removed from 
office, refuse to qualify, die, resign, be absent from the State, or 
be under any other disability, the speaker of the house of repre- 
sentatives shall, in like manner, administer the government. If 
the governor shall be absent from the State over twenty days, the 
secretary of state shall notify the president of the senate, who 
shall enter upon the duties of governor ; and if the governor and 
president of the senate shall both be absent from the State over 
twenty days, the secretary of state shall notify the speaker of the 
house of representatives, and in such case he shall enter upon and 
discharge the duties of governor until the return of the governor, 
or president of the senate. 

Sec. 16. The president of the senate and speaker of the house 
of representatives shall, during the time they respectively admin- 
ister the government, receive the same compensation which the 
governor would have received if he had been employed in the 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 97 

duties of his office ; Provided, That if the general assembly shall 
be in session during such absence, they, or either of them, shall 
receive no compensation as members of the general assembly 
while acting as governor. 

Sec. 17. No person shall, at one and the same time, hold the 
office of governor of this State, and any other office, civil or 
military, either under this State, the United States, dT any other 
State or government, except as otherwise provided in this Con- 
stitution. 

Sec. 18. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the 
militia and volunteer forces of this State, except when they shall 
be called into the service of the United States, and he may call 
out the same to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, and repel 
invasion ; but he need not command in person unless directed to 
do so by a resolution of the general assembly ; and when acting 
in the service of the United States he shall appoint his staff, and 
the general assembly shall fix his rank. 

Sec. 19. No person shall be eligible to the office of secretary 
of state, state treasurer, state auditor, or attorney-general, unless 
he shall have been a citizen of the United States at least seven 
years, and shall have resided in this State at least five years next 
preceding his election, and shall be at least twenty-five years old 
when elected. 

Sec. 20. There shall be a great seal of the State, which shall 
be used officially by the governor ; and the seal now in use shall 
continue to be used until another shall have been adopted by the 
general assembly. The said seal shall be called the " Great Seal 
of the State of Alabama." 

Sec. 21. The secretary of state shall be the custodian of the 
seal of the State, and shall authenticate therewith all official acts 
of the governor, his approval of laws and resolutions excepted. 
He shall keep a register of the official acts of the governor, and 
when necessary, shall attest them, and lay copies of the same, 
together with copies of all papers relative thereto, before either 
house of the general assembly, whenever required to do so, and 
shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 22. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the 
name and by the authority of the State of Alabama, sealed with 
the great seal, and signed by the governor, and countersigned by 
the secretary of state. • 

7 I 



98 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 23. Should the office of secretary of state, state treasurer, 
state auditor, attorney-general, or superintendent of education 
become vacant, for any of the causes specified in section fifteen of 
this article, the governor shall fill the vacancy until the disability 
is removed, or a successor elected and qualified. 

Sec. 24. The state treasurer, state auditor, and attorney- 
general shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. 
The state treasurer and state auditor shall, every year, at a time 
the general assembly may fix, make a full and complete report to 
the governor, showing all receipts and disbursements of revenue 
of every character, all claims audited and paid by the State, by 
items, and all taxes and revenue collected and paid into the 
treasury, and from what sources ; and they shall make reports 
oftener on any matter pertaining to their office, if required by the 
governor or the general assembly. 

Sec. 25. The state auditor, state treasurer, and secretary of 
state shall not, after the expiration of the terms of those now in 
office, receive to their use any fees, costs, perquisites of office, or 
compensation, other than their salaries as prescribed by law ; and 
all fees that may be payable by law, for any service performed by 
either of such officers, shall be paid in advance into the state 
treasury. 

Sec. 26. A sheriff shall be elected in each county, by the 
qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of 
four years, unless sooner removed, and shall be ineligible to such 
office as his own successor ; Provided, That sheriffs elected on the 
first Monday in August, 1877, or at such other time as may be 
prescribed by law for the election in that year, shall hold their 
offices for the term of three years, and until their successors shall 
be elected and qualified. In the year 1880, at the general election 
for members to the general assembly, sheriffs shall be elected for 
four years, as herein provided. Vacancies in the office of sheriff 
shall be filled by the governor, as in other cases ; and the person 
appointed shall continue in office until the next general election 
in the county for sheriff, as provided by law. 

ARTICLE VI. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in 
the senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, a supreme court, 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 99 

circuit courts, chancery courts, courts of probate, such inferior 
courts of law and equity, to consist of not more than five members, 
as the general assembly may from time to time establish, and 
such persons as may be by law invested with powers of a judicial 
nature. 

Sec. 2. Except in cases otherwise directed in the Constitution, 
the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which 
shall be co-extensive with the State, under such restrictions and 
regulations, not repugnant to this Constitution, as may from time 
to time be prescribed by, law ; Provided, That said court shall 
have power to issue writs of injunction, habeas corpus, quo war- 
ranto, and such other remedial and original writs as may be 
necessary to give it a general superintendence and control of in- 
ferior jurisdictions. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be held at the seat of govern- 
ment, but if that shall have become dangerous from any cause, it 
may adjourn to a different place. 

Sec. 4. The State shall be divided by the general assembly 
into convenient circuits, not to exceed eight in number, unless 
increased by a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house 
of the general assembly, and no circuit shall contain less than 
three nor more than twelve counties ; and for each circuit there 
shall be chosen a judge, who shall, for one year next preceding 
his election, and during his continuance in office, reside in the 
circuit for which he is elected. 

Sec. 5. The circuit court shall have original jurisdiction in all 
matters, civil and criminal, within the State, not otherwise 
excepted in the Constitution ; but in civil cases only when the 
matter or sum in controversy exceeds fifty dollars. 

Sec. 6. A circuit court shall be held in each county in the 
State at least twice in every year, and the judges of the several 
circuits may hold courts for each other, when they deem it expe- 
dient, and shall do so when directed by law ; Provided, That the 
judges of the several circuit courts shall have power to issue writs 
of injunction returnable into courts of chancery. 

Sec. 7. The general assembly shall have power to establish a 
court or courts of chancery, with original and appellate jurisdic- 
tion. The State shall be divided by the general assembly into 
convenient chancery divisions, not exceeding three in number, 
unless an increase shall be made by a vote of two-thirds of each 



100 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

house of the general assembly, taken by yeas and nays and 
entered upon the journals; and the divisions shall be divided into 
districts ; and for each division there shall be a chancellor, who 
shall, at the time of his election or appointment, and during his 
continuance in office, reside in the division for which he shall 
have been elected or appointed. 

Sec. 8. A chancery court shall be held in each district, at a 
place to be fixed by law, at least once in each year; and the 
chancellors may hold courts for each other, when they deem it 
necessary. 

Sec. 9. The general assembly shall have power to establish in 
each county within the State a court of probate, with general 
jurisdiction for the granting of letters testamentary and of 
administration, and for orphans' business. 

Sec. 10. The judges of the supreme court, circuit courts, and 
chancellors shall, at stated times, receive for their services a com- 
pensation, which shall not be diminished during their official 
terms, but they shall receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any 
office (except judicial offices) of profit or trust under this State or 
the United States, or any other power, during the term for which 
they have been elected. 

Sec. 11. The supreme court shall consist of one chief justice 
and such number of associate justices as may be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 12. The chief justice and associate justices of the supreme 
court, judges of the circuit courts, probate courts, and chancellors 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State, circuits 
counties, and chancery divisions, for which such courts may be 
established, at such times as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 13. The judges of such inferior courts of law and equity 
as may be by law established, shall be elected or appointed in such 
mode as the general assembly may prescribe. 

Sec. 14. The judges of the supreme court, circuit courts, and 
chancellors, and the judges of city courts shall have been citizens 
of the United States and of this State for five years next preced- 
ing their election or appointment, and shall be not less than 
twenty-five years of age, and learned in the law. 

Sec. 15. The chief justice and associate justices of the supreme 
court, circuit judges, chancellors, and probate judges shall hold 
office for the term of six years, and until their successors are 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 101 

elected or appointed and qualified ; and the right of such judges 
and chancellors to hold their offices for the full time hereby pre- 
scribed shall not be affected by any change hereafter made by law 
in any circuit, division, or county in the mode or time of election. 

Sec. 16. The judges of the supreme court shall, by virtue of 
their offices, be conservators of the peace throughout the State ; 
the judges of the circuit courts, within their respective circuits, 
and the judges of the inferior courts within their respective juris- 
dictions, shall, in like manner, be conservators of the peace. 

Sec. 17. Vacancies in the office of any of the judges or chan- 
cellors of this State shall be filled by appointment by the gov- 
ernor ; and such appointee shall hold his office for the unexpired 
term, and until his successor is elected or appointed and qualified. 

Sec. 18. If in any case, civil or criminal, pending in any cir- 
cuit, chancery, or city court in this State, the presiding judge or 
chancellor shall, for any legal cause, be incompetent to try, hear, 
or render judgment in such cause, the parties or their attorneys 
of record, if it be a civil case, or the solicitor or other prosecuting 
officer, and the defendant or defendants, if it be a criminal case, 
may agree upon some disinterested person practising in the court 
and learned in the law, to act as special judge or chancellor, to sit 
as a court, and to hear, decide, and render judgment in the same 
manner and to the same effect as a judge of the circuit or city 
court, or chancellor sitting as a court might do in such case. If 
the case be a civil one, and the parties or their attorneys of record 
do not agree, or if the case be a criminal one, and the prosecuting 
officer and the defendant or defendants do not agree upon a special 
judge or chancellor, or if either party in a civil cause is not rep- 
resented in court, the clerk of the circuit or city court, or register 
in chancery, of the court in which said cause is pending, shall 
appoint the special judge or chancellor, who shall preside, try, and 
render judgment as in this section provided. 

Sec. 19. The general assembly shall have power to provide for 
the holding of circuit and chancery courts in this State, when the 
judges or chancellors thereof fail to attend regular terms. 

Sec. 20. No judge of any court of record in this State shall 
practise law in any of the courts of this State or of the United 
States. 

Sec. 21. Registers in chancery shall be appointed by the chan- 
cellors of the divisions, and shall hold office during the term of 



102 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

the chancellor making such appointment ; and such registers shall 
receive as compensation for their services only such fees and com- 
missions as may be specifically prescribed by law. 

Sec, 22. A clerk of the supreme court shall be appointed by 
the judges thereof, and shall hold office during the term of the 
judges making the appointment; and clerks of such inferior 
courts as may be established by law shall be appointed by the 
judges thereof, and shall hold office during the term of the judge 
making such appointment. 

Sec. 23. Clerks of the circuit court shall be elected by the 
qualified electors in each county for the term of six years. Va- 
cancies in such office shall be filled by the governor for the unex- 
pired term. 

Sec. 24. The clerk of the supreme court and registers in chan- 
cery may be removed from office by the judges of the supreme 
court and chancellors respectively, for cause, to be entered at 
length upon the records of the court. 

Sec. 25. A solicitor for each judicial circuit shall be elected by 
joint ballot of the general assembly, who shall be learned in the 
law, and who shall, at the time of his election, and during his 
continuance in office, reside in the circuit for which he is chosen, 
and whose term of office shall be for six years ; Provided, That the 
general assembly, at the first session thereof after the ratification 
of this Constitution, shall, by joint ballot, elect a solicitor for each 
judicial circuit of the State, whose term of office shall begin on 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred 
and seventy-six, and continue for four years ; And provided, That 
the general assembly may, when necessary, provide for the elec- 
tion or appointment of county solicitors. 

Sec. 26. There shall be elected by the qualified electors of each 
precinct of the counties not exceeding two justices of the peace 
and one constable. Such justices shall have jurisdiction in all 
civil cases wherein the amount in controversy does not exceed one 
hundred dollars, except in cases of libel, slander, assault and bat- 
tery, and ejectment. In all cases tried before such justices the 
right of appeal, without prepayment of costs, shall be secured by 
law ; Provided, That the governor may appoint one notary public 
for each election precinct in counties, and one for each ward in 
cities of over five thousand inhabitants, who, in addition to the 
powers of notary, shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction as 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 103 

justices of the peace within the precincts and wards for which 
they are respectively appointed ; And provided, That notaries 
public without such jurisdiction may be appointed. The term of 
office of such justices and notaries public shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 27. An attorney-general shall be elected by the qualified 
electors of the State at the same time and places of election of 
members of the general assembly, whose term of office shall be 
for two years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. 
After his election he shall reside at the seat of government, and 
shall be the law officer of the State, and shall perform such duties 
as may be required of him by law. 

Sec. 28. The style of all process shall be " The State of 
Alabama," and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name 
and by the authority of the same, and shall conclude, " Against 
the peace and dignity of the State." 

ARTICLE VII. 

IMPEACHMENTS. 

Section 1. The governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, 
attorney-general, superintendent of education, and judges of the 
supreme court may be removed from office for wilful neglect of 
duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, 
or any offence involving moral turpitude while in office, or com- 
mitted under color thereof, or connected therewith, by the senate, 
sitting as a court for that purpose, under oath or affirmation, on 
articles or charges preferred by the house of representatives. 

Sec. 2. The chancellors, judges of the circuit courts, judges of 
the probate courts, solicitors of the circuits, and judges of the 
inferior courts, from which an appeal may be taken directly to 
the supreme court, may be removed from office for any of the 
causes specified in the preceding section, by the supreme court, 
under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 3. The sheriffs, clerks of the circuit, city, or criminal 
courts, tax collectors, tax assessors, county treasurers, coroners, 
justices of the peace, notaries public, constables, and all other 
county officers, mayors, and intendants of incorporated cities and 
towns in this State, may be removed from office for any of the 
causes specified in section one of this article, by the circuit, city, 
or criminal court of the county in which such officers hold their 



104 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

office, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; 
Provided, That the right of trial by jury and appeal in such cases 
be secured. 

Sec. 4. The penalties in cases arising under the three preced- 
ing sections shall not extend beyond removal from office, and dis- 
qualification from holding office under the authority of this State, 
for the term for which he was elected or appointed; but the 
accused shall be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, as 
prescribed by law. 

AETICLE VIII. 

SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS. 

Section 1. Every male citizen of the United States, and every 
male person of foreign birth who may have legally declared his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States before he offers 
to vote, who is twenty-one years old, or upwards, possessing the 
following qualifications, shall be an elector, and shall be entitled 
to vote at any election by the people, except as hereinafter 
provided : 

First. He shall have resided in the State at least one year 
immediately preceding the election at which he offers to vote. 

Second. He shall have resided in the county for three months, 
and in the precinct or ward for thirty days immediately preceding 
the election at which he offers to vote ; Provided, That the 
general assembly may prescribe a longer or shorter residence in 
any precinct in any county, or in any ward in any incorporated 
city or town, having a population of more than five thousand 
inhabitants, but in no case to exceed three months ; And 
provided, That no soldier, sailor, or marine, in the military or 
naval service of the United States, shall acquire a residence by 
being stationed in this State. 

Sec. 2. All elections by the people shall be by ballot, and all 
elections by persons in a representative capacity shall be viva 
voce. 

Sec. 3. The following classes shall not be permitted to register, 
vote, or hold office. 

First. Those who shall have been convicted of treason, embez- 
zlement of public funds, malfeasance in office, larceny, bribery, or 
other crime punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary. 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 105 

Second. Those who are idiots or insane. 

Sec. 4. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attend- 
ance at elections, or while going to or returning therefrom. 

Sec. 5. The general assembly shall pass laws, not inconsistent 
with this Constitution, to regulate and govern elections in this 
State, and all such laws shall be uniform throughout the State. 
The general assembly may, when necessary, provide by law for 
the registration of electors throughout the State, or in any incor- 
porated city or town thereof, and when it is so provided, no 
person shall vote at any election unless he shall have registered 
as required by law. 

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass 
adequate laws giving protection against the evils arising from the 
use of intoxicating liquors at all elections. 

Sec. 7. Returns of elections for all civil officers who are to be 
commissioned by the governor, except secretary of state, state 
auditor, state treasurer and attorney-general, and for members of 
the general assembly, shall be made to the secretary of state. 

ARTICLE IX. 

REPRESENTATION. 

Section 1. The whole number of senators shall be not less 
than one-fourth or more than one-third the whole number of 
representatives. 

Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall consist of not more 
than one hundred members, who shall be apportioned by the 
general assembly among the several counties of the State, accord- 
ing to the number of inhabitants in them respectively, as ascer- 
tained by the decennial census of the United States for the year 
eighteen hundred and eighty ; which apportionment, when made, 
shall not be subject to alteration until the first session of the 
general assembly after the next decennial census of the United 
States shall have been taken. 

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, at its first 
session after the taking of the decennial census of the United 
States in the year eighteen hundred and eighty, and after each 
subsequent decennial census, to fix by law the number of repre- 



106 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

sentatives, and apportion them among the several counties of the 
State; Provided, That each county shall be entitled to at least 
one representative. 

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the general assembly at its first 
session after the taking of the decennial census of the United 
States in the year eighteen hundred and eighty, and after each 
subsequent decennial census, to fix by law the number of senators, 
and to divide the State into as many senatorial districts as there 
are senators, which districts shall be as nearly equal to each other 
in the number of inhabitants as may be, and each shall be entitled 
to one senator, and no more ; and which districts, when formed, 
shall not be changed until the next apportioning session of the 
general assembly after the next decennial census of the United 
States shall have been taken. No county shall be divided be- 
tween two districts, and no district shall be made of two or more 
counties not contiguous to each other. 

Sec. 5. Should the decennial census of the United States, 
from any cause, not be taken, or if, when taken, the same as to 
this State is not full and satisfactory, the general assembly shall 
have power, at its first session after the time shall have elapsed 
for the taking of said census, to provide for an enumeration of all 
the inhabitants of this State, and once in each ten years there- 
after, upon which it shall be the duty of the general assembly to 
make the apportionment of representatives and senators as pro- 
vided for in this article. 

Sec. 6. Until the general assembly shall make an apportion- 
ment of representatives among the several counties, after the first 
decennial census of the United States, as herein provided, the 
counties of Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chilton, 
Cherokee, Choctaw, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Cone- 
cuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, 
Escambia, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Henry, Lauderdale, Marion, 
Morgan, Monroe, Marshall, Eandolph, San ford, Shelby, St. Clair, 
Walker, Washington, and Winston shall each have one represen- 
tative ; the counties of Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, 
Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Limestone, Lawrence, Lowndes, 
Lee, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, 
Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuskaloosa, and Wilcox shall have each 
two representatives ; the county of Madison shall have three rep- 
resentatives ; the counties of Dallas and Montgomery shall have, 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 107 

each, four representatives ; and the county of Mobile shall have 
five representatives. 

Sec. 7. Until the general assembly shall divide the State into 
senatorial districts, as herein provided, the senatorial districts 
shall be as follows : 

First district, Lauderdale and Limestone ; second district, Col- 
bert and Lawrence; third district, Morgan, Winston, and Blount; 
fourth district, Madison ; fifth district, Marshall, Jackson, and 
DeKalb ; sixth district, Cherokee, Etowah, and St. Clair ; seventh 
district, Calhoun and Cleburne; eighth district, Talladega and 
Clay; ninth district, Eandolph and Chambers; tenth district, 
Macon and Tallapoosa; eleventh district, Bibb and Tuskaloosa; 
twelfth district, Franklin, Marion, Fayette, and Sanford; 
thirteenth district, Walker, Jefferson, and Shelby; fourteenth 
district, Greene and Pickens; fifteenth district, Coosa, Elmore, 
and Chilton; sixteenth district, Lowndes and Autauga; seven- 
teenth district, Butler and Conecuh ; eighteenth district, Perry ; 
nineteenth district, Choctaw, Clark, and Washington ; twentieth 
district, Marengo; twenty-first district, Monroe, Escambia, and 
Baldwin ; twenty-second district, Wilcox ; twenty-third district, 
Henry, Coffee, Dale, and Geneva; twenty-fourth district, Bar- 
bour; twenty -fifth district, Pike, Crenshaw, and Covington; 
twenty - sixth district, Bullock ; twenty - seventh district, Lee ; 
twenty-eighth district, Montgomery ; twenty-ninth district, Eus- 
sell; thirtieth district, Dallas ; thirty-first district, Sumter; thirty- 
second district, Hale ; thirty-third district, Mobile. 

ARTICLE X. 

EXEMPTED PROPERTY. 

Section 1. The personal property of any resident of this State, 
to the value of one thousand dollars, to be selected by such resi- 
dent, shall be exempted from sale on execution, or other process 
of any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted since 
the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or 
after the ratification of this Constitution. 

Sec. 2. Every homestead, not exceeding eighty acres, and the 
dwelling and appurtenances thereon, to be selected by the owner 
thereof, and not in any city, town, or village, or in lieu thereof, at 
the option of the owner, any lot in the city, town, or village, with 



108 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

the dwelling and appurtenances thereon, owned and occupied by 
any resident of this State, and not exceeding the value of two 
thousand dollars, shall be exempted from sale on execution, or 
any other process from a court, for any debt contracted since the 
thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or after 
the ratification of this Constitution. Such exemption, however, 
shall not extend to any mortgage lawfully obtained, but such 
mortgage or other alienation of such homestead, by the owner 
thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without the voluntary 
signature and assent of the wife to the same. 

Sec. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the 
owner thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of any debts 
contracted since the thirteenth day of July, one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-eight, or after the ratification of this Constitu- 
tion, in all cases, during the minority of the children. 

Sec. 4. The provisions of section one and two of this article 
shall not be so construed as to prevent a laborer's lien for work 
done and performed for the person claiming such exemption, or a 
mechanic's lien for work done on the premises. 

Sec. 5. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow, but 
no children, such homestead shall be exempt, and the rents and 
profits thereof shall enure to her benefit. 

Sec. 6. The real and personal property of any female in this 
State, acquired before marriage, and all property, real and per- 
sonal, to which she may afterwards be entitled by gift, grant, in- 
heritance, or devise, shall be and remain the separate estate and 
property of such female, and shall not be liable for any debts, 
obligations, and engagements of her husband, and may be devised 
or bequeathed by her, the same as if she were a femme sole. 

Sec. 7. The right of exemptions hereinbefore secured may be 
waived by an instrument in writing, and when such waiver relates 
to realty, the instrument must be signed by both the husband 
and the wife, and attested by one witness. 

ARTICLE XI. 

TAXATION. 

Section 1. All taxes levied on property in this State shall be 
assessed in exact proportion to the value of such property ; Pro- 
vided, however ', The general assembly may levy a poll-tax, not to 



COXSTITUTJOy OF ALABAMA. 109 

exceed one dollar and fifty cents on each poll, which shall be 
applied exclusively in aid of the public school fund in the county 
so paying the same. 

Sec. 2. No power to levy taxes shall be delegated to indi- 
viduals or private corporations. 

Sec. 3. After the ratification of this Constitution, no new debt 
shall be created against, or incurred by this State, or its authority, 
except to repel invasion or suppress insurrection, and then only 
by a concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house of 
the general assembly, and the vote shall be taken by yeas and 
nays and entered on the journals; and any act creating or in- 
curring any new debt against this State, except as herein provided 
for, shall be absolutely void ; Provided, The governor may be 
authorized to negotiate temporary loans, never to exceed one 
hundred thousand dollars, to meet deficiencies in the treasury ; 
and until the same is paid, no new loan shall be negotiated ; Pro- 
vided farther, That this section shall not be so construed as to pre- 
vent the issuance of bonds in adjustment of existing State indebt- 
edness. 

Sec. 4. The general assembly shall not have the power to levy, 
in any one year, a greater rate of taxation than three-fourths of 
one per centum on the value of the taxable property within this 
State. 

Sec. 5. No county in this State shall be authorized to levy 
a larger rate of taxation, in any one year, on the value of the tax- 
able property therein, than one-half of one per centum ; Provided, 
That to pay debts existing at the ratification of this Constitution, 
an additional rate of one-fourth of one per centum may be levied 
and collected, which shall be exclusively appropriated to the pay- 
ment of such debts, or the interest thereon ; Provided further, That 
to pay any debt or liability now existing against any county, in- 
curred for the erection of the necessary public buildings or other 
ordinary county purposes, or that may hereafter be created for the 
erection of necessary public buildings or bridges, any county may 
levy and collect such special taxes as may have been or may here- 
after be authorized by law, which taxes so levied and collected 
shall be applied exclusively to the purposes for which the same 
shall have been levied and collected. 

Sec. 6. The property of private corporations, associations, and 
individuals of this State shall forever be taxed at the same rate; 

K 



110 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Provided, This section shall not apply to institutions or enterprises 
devoted exclusively to religious, educational, or charitable pur- 
poses. 

Sec. 7. No city, town, or other municipal corporation, other 
than provided for in this article, shall levy or collect a larger rate 
of taxation, in any one year, on the property thereof, than one- 
half of one per centum of the value of such property, as assessed 
for State taxation during the preceding year ; Provided, That for 
the payment of debts existing at the time of the ratification of this 
Constitution, and the interest thereon, an additional rate of one 
per centum may be collected, to be applied exclusively to such 
indebtedness ; And provided, This section shall not apply to the 
city of Mobile, which city may, until the first day of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, levy a tax not to exceed 
the rate of one per centum, and from and after that time a tax 
not to exceed the rate of three-fourths of one per centum, to pay 
the expenses of the city government, and may also, until the first 
day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, 
levy a tax not to exceed the rate of one per centum, and from and 
after that time, a tax not to exceed the rate of three-fourths of one 
per centum, to pay the existing indebtedness of said city, and the 
interest thereon. 

Sec. 8. At the first session of the general assembly after the 
ratification of this Constitution, the salaries of the following 
officers shall be reduced at least twenty-five per centum, viz. : 
Governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney- 
general, superintendent of education, judges of the supreme and 
circuit courts, and chancellors ; and after said reduction, the gene- 
ral assembly shall not have the power to increase the same, except 
by a vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house, 
taken by yeas and nays, and entered on the journals ; Provided, 
This section shall not apply to any of said officers now in office. 

Sec. 9. The general assembly shall not have the power to re- 
quire the counties or other municipal corporations to pay any 
charges which are now payable out of the State treasury. 

ARTICLE XII. 

MILITIA. 

Section 1. All able-bodied male inhabitants of this State, 
between the ages of eighteen years and forty-five years, who are 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. Ill 

citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to 
become such citizens, shall be liable to military duty in the militia 
of the State. 

Sec. 2. The general assembly, in providing for the organiza- 
tion, equipment, and discipline of the militia, shall conform as 
nearly as practicable to the regulations for the government of the 
armies of the United States. 

Sec. 3. Each company and regiment shall elect its own com- 
pany and regimental officers ; but if any company or regiment 
shall neglect to elect such officers within the time prescribed by 
law, they may be appointed by the governor. 

Sec. 4. Volunteer organizations of infantry, cavalry, and artil- 
lery may be formed in such manner, and under such restrictions, 
and with such privileges, as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 5. The militia and volunteer forces shall, in all cases, 
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at musters, parades, and elections, 
and in going to and returning from the same. 

Sec. 6. The governor shall, except as otherwise provided 
herein, be commander-in-chief of the militia and volunteer forces 
of the State, except when in the service of the United States, and 
shall, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint all 
general officers, whose terms of office shall be for four years. 
The governor, the generals, and regimental and battalion com- 
manders shall appoint their own staffs, as may be provided by 
law. 

Sec. 7. The general assembly shall provide for the safe-keeping 
of the arms, ammunition, and accoutrements, military records, 
banners, and relics of the State. 

Sec. 8. The officers and men of the militia and volunteer forces 
shall not be entitled to, or receive any pay, rations, or emolu- 
ments, when not in active service. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section 1. The general assembly shall establish, organize, and 
maintain a system of public schools throughout the State, for the 
equal benefit of the children thereof between the ages of seven 
and twenty-one years ; but separate schools shall be provided for 
the children of citizens of African descent. 



112 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 2. The principal of all funds arising from the sale or other 
disposition of lands or other property, which has been or may 
hereafter be granted or entrusted to this State, or given by the 
United States, for educational purposes, shall be preserved in- 
violate and undiminished; and the income arising therefrom 
shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original 
grants or appropriations. 

Sec. 3. All lands or other property given by individuals, or 
appropriated by the State for educational purposes, and all estates 
of deceased persons who die without leaving a will or heir, shall 
be faithfully applied to the maintenance of the public schools. 

Sec. 4. The general assembly shall also provide for the levy- 
ing and collection of an annual poll-tax, not to exceed one dollar 
and fifty cents on each poll, which shall be applied to the support 
of the public schools in the counties in which it is levied and col- 
lected. 

Sec. 5. The income arising from the sixteenth section trust 
fund, the surplus revenue fund, until it is called for by the United 
States government, and the funds enumerated in sections three 
and four of this article, with such other moneys, to be not less 
than one hundred thousand dollars per annum, as the general 
assembly shall provide by taxation or otherwise, shall be applied 
to the support and maintenance of the public schools ; and it shall 
be the duty of the general assembly to increase, from time to time, 
the public school fund, as the condition of the treasury and the 
resources of the State will admit. 

Sec. 6. Not more than four per cent, of all moneys raised, or 
which may hereafter be appropriated for the support of ,public 
schools, shall be used or expended otherwise than for the payment 
of teachers employed in such schools : Provided, That the general 
assembly may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, suspend the 
operation of this section. 

Sec. 7. The supervision of the public schools shall be vested 
in a superintendent of education, whose powers, duties, term of 
office, and compensation shall be fixed by law. The superin- 
tendent of education shall be elected by the qualified voters of the 
State in such manner, and at such time, as shall be provided by 
law. 

Sec. 8. No money raised for the support of the public schools 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 113 

of the State shall be appropriated to, or used for, the support of 
any sectarian or denominational school. 

Sec. 9. The State University and the Agricultural and Me- 
chanical College shall each be under the management and control 
of a board of trustees. The board for the university shall consist 
of two members from the congressional district in which the uni- 
versity is located, and one from each of the other congressional 
districts in the State. The board for the Agricultural and Me- 
chanical College shall consist of two members from the congres- 
sional district in which the college is located, and one from each 
of the other congressional districts in the State. Said trustee shall 
be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate, and shall hold office for a term of six years, and 
until their successors shall be appointed and qualified. After the 
first appointment each board shall be divided into three classes, 
as nearly equal as may be. The seats of the first class shall be 
vacated at the expiration of two years, and those of the second 
class in four years, and those of the third class at the end of six 
years, from the date of appointment, so that one-third may be 
chosen biennially. No trustee shall receive any pay or emolu- 
ment, other than his actual expenses incurred in the discharge of 
his duties as such. The governor shall be ex officio president, and 
the superintendent of education ex officio a member of each of 
said boards of trustees. 

Sec. 10. The general assembly shall have no power to change 
the location of the State University, or the Agricultural and Me- 
chanical College, as now established by law, except upon a vote 
of two-thirds of the members of the general assembly, taken by 
yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals. 

Sec. 11. The provisions of this article, and of any act of the 
general assembly, passed in pursuance thereof, to establish, organ- 
ize, and maintain a system of public schools throughout the State, 
shall apply to Mobile county only so far as to authorize and re- 
quire the authorities designated by law to draw the portion of the 
funds to which said county will be entitled for school purposes, 
and to make reports to the superintendent of education, as may be 
prescribed by law. And all special incomes and powers of tax- 
ation, as now authorized by law for the benefit of public schools 
in said county, shall remain undisturbed until otherwise provided 



114 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

by the general assembly : Provided, That separate schools for each 
race shall always be maintained by said school authorities. 

AETICLE XIV. 

CORPORATIONS. — PRIVATE CORPORATIONS. 

Section 1. Corporations may be formed under general laws, 
but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal, man- 
ufacturing, mining, immigration, industrial, and educational pur- 
poses, or for constructing canals, or improving navigable rivers 
and harbors of this State, and in cases where, in the judgment of 
the general assembly, the objects of the corporation cannot be 
attained under general laws. All general laws and special acts 
passed pursuant to this section may be altered, amended, or re- 



Sec. 2. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive 
privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not have 
taken place and business been commenced in good faith, at the 
time of the ratification of this Constitution, shall thereafter have 
no validity. 

Sec. 3. The general assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of 
the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend the 
same, or pass any general or special law for the benefit of such 
corporation, other than in execution of a trust created by law or 
by contract, except upon the condition that such corporation shall 
thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Con- 
stitution. 

Sec. 4. No foreign corporation shall do any business in this 
State without having at least one known place of business and an 
authorized agent or agents therein ; and such corporation may be 
sued in any county where it does business by service of process 
upon an agent anywhere in this State. 

Sec. 5. No corporation shall engage in any business other than 
that expressly authorized in its charter. 

Sec. 6. No corporation shall issue stock or bonds except for 
money, labor done, or money or property actually received ; and 
all fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The 
stock and bonded indebtedness of corporations shall not be in- 
creased, except in pursuance of general laws, nor without the con- 
sent of the persons holding the larger amount in value of stock, 






CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 11.5 

first obtained at a meeting to be held after thirty days' notice is 
given in pursuance of law. 

Sec. 7. Municipal and other corporations and individuals in- 
vested with the privilege of taking private property, for public 
use, shall make just compensation for the property taken, injured, 
or destroyed by the construction or enlargement of its works, 
highways or improvements, which compensation shall be paid 
before such taking, injury, or destruction. The general assembly 
is hereby prohibited from depriving any person of an appeal from 
any preliminary assessment of damages against any such corpora- 
tions or individuals made by viewers, or otherwise; and the 
amount of such damages in all cases of appeal shall, on the 
demand of either party, be determined by a jury according to law. 

Sec. 8. Dues from private corporations shall be secured by 
such means as may be prescribed by law ; but in no case shall 
any stockholder be individually liable otherwise than for the un- 
paid stock owned by him or her. 

Sec. 9. No corporation shall issue preferred stock without the 
consent of the owners of two-thirds of the stock of said corpora- 
tion. 

Sec. 10. The general assembly shall have the power to alter, 
revoke, or amend any charter of incorporation now existing, and 
revocable at the ratification of this Constitution, or any that may 
hereafter be created, whenever, in their opinion, it may be injuri- 
ous to the citizens of the State; in such manner, however, that no 
injustice shall be done to the corporators. No law hereafter en- 
acted shall create, renew, or extend the charter of more than one 
corporation. 

Sec. 11. Any association or corporation organized for the pur- 
pose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and 
maintain lines of telegraph within this State, and connect the 
same with other lines ; and the general assembly shall, by general 
law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give 
full effect to this section. No telegraph company shall consoli- 
date with, or hold a controlling interest in the stock or bonds of 
any other telegraph company owning a competing line, or acquire, 
by purchase or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph. 

Sec. 12. All corporations shall have the right to sue, and 
shall be subject to be sued in all courts, in like cases as natural 
persons. 



116 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

Sec. 13. The term " corporation," as used in this article, shall 
be construed to include all joint stock companies, or any associa- 
tions having any of the powers or privileges of corporations, not 
possessed by individuals or partnerships. 

BANKS AND BANKING. 

Sec. 14. The general assembly shall not have the power to 
establish or incorporate any bank or banking company, or 
moneyed institution, for the purpose of issuing bills of credit, or 
bills payable to order or bearer, except under the conditions pre- 
scribed in this Constitution. 

Sec. 15. No banks shall be established otherwise than under 
a general banking law, nor otherwise than upon a specie basis. 

Sec. 16. All bills or notes issued as money shall be at all times 
redeemable in gold or silver, and no law shall be passed sanction- 
ing, directly or indirectly, the suspension by any bank or banking 
company of specie payment. 

Sec. 17. Holders of bank notes, and depositors who have not 
stipulated for interest, shall, for such notes and deposits, be en- 
titled, in case of insolvency, to the preference of payment over all 
other creditors. 

Sec. 18. Every bank or banking company shall be required to 
cease all banking operations within twenty years from the time of 
its organization (unless the general assembly shall extend the 
time), and promptly thereafter close its business; but shall have 
corporate capacity to sue and shall be liable to suit, until its 
affairs and liabilities are fully closed. 

Sec. 19. No bank shall receive, directly or indirectly, a greater 
rate of interest than shall be allowed by law to individuals for 
lending money. 

Sec. 20. The State shall not be a stockholder in any bank, 
nor shall the credit of the State ever be given or loaned to any 
banking company, association, or corporation. 

RAILROADS AND CANALS. 

Sec. 21. All railroads and canals shall be public highways 
and all railroad and canal companies shall be common carriers. 
Any association or corporation organized for the purpose shall 
have the right to construct and operate a railroad between any 
points in this State, and to connect, at the State line, with rail- 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 117 

roads of other States. Every railroad company shall have the 
right with its road to intersect, connect with, or cross any other 
railroad, and shall receive and transport, each, the other's freight, 
passengers, and cars, loaded or empty, without delay or discrim- 
ination. 

Sec. 22. The general assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses 
and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of 
freights and passenger tariffs on railroads, canals, and rivers in 
this State. 

Sec. 23. No railroad or other transportation company shall 
grant free passes, or sell tickets or passes at a discount other than 
as sold to the public generally, to any member of the general 
assembly, or to any person holding office under this State or the 
United States. 

Sec. 24. No street passenger railway shall be constructed 
within the limits of any city or town, without the consent of its 
local authorities. 

Sec. 25. No railroad, canal, or other transportation company, 
in existence at the time of the ratification of this Constitution, 
shall have the benefit of any future legislation by general or 
special laws, other than in execution of a trust created by law, or 
by contract, except on the condition of complete acceptance of all 
the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

OATH OF OFFICE. 

Section 1. All members of the general assembly, and all 
officers, executive and judicial, before they enter upon the execu- 
tion of the duties of their respective offices, shall take the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation, to wit : 

" I, , solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may 

be), that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and 
the Constitution of the State of Alabama, so long as I continue a 
citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully and honestly discharge 
the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter to the best 
of my ability. So help me God." 

Which oath may be administered by the presiding officer of 
either house of the general assembly, or any officer authorized by 
law to administer an oath. 



118 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Section 1. No person holding an office of profit under the 
United States, except postmasters whose annual salary does not 
exceed two hundred dollars, shall, during his continuance in such 
office, hold any office of profit under this State ; nor shall any 
person hold two offices of profit at one and the same time under 
this State, except justices of the peace, constables, notaries public, 
and commissioners of deeds. 

Sec. 2. It is made the duty of the general assembly to enact 
all laws necessary to give effect to the provisions of this Constitu- 
tion. 

AETICLE XVII. 

MODE OF AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Section 1. The general assembly may, whenever two-thirds 
of each house shall deem it necessary, propose amendments to 
this Constitution, which, having been read on three several days 
in each house, shall be duly published in such manner as the 
general assembly may direct, at least three months before the 
next general election for representatives, for the consideration of 
the people ; and it shall be the duty of the several returning 
officers, at the next general election which shall be held for rep- 
resentatives, to open a poll for the vote of the qualified electors 
on the proposed amendments, and to make a return of said vote 
to the secretary of State ; and, if it shall thereupon appear that a 
majority of all the qualified electors of the State, who voted at 
such election, voted in favor of the proposed amendments, said 
amendments shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as parts 
of this Constitution, and the result of such election shall be made 
known by proclamation of the governor. 

Sec. 2. No convention shall hereafter be held for the purpose 
of altering or amending the Constitution of this State, unless the 
question of convention or no convention shall be first submitted 
to a vote of all the electors of the State, and approved by a 
majority of those voting at said election. 

SCHEDULE. 
In order that no injury or inconvenience may arise from the 
alterations and amendments made by this Constitution to the 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 119 

existing Constitution of this State, and to carry this Constitution 
into effect, it is hereby ordained and declared, — 

1. That all laws in force at the ratification of this Constitution, 
and not inconsistent therewith, shall remain in full force, until 
altered or repealed by the general assembly; and all rights, 
actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of this State, counties, 
individuals, or bodies corporate, not inconsistent with this Con- 
stitution, shall continue to be as valid as if this Constitution had 
not been ratified. 

2. That all bonds executed by or to any officer of this State, 
all recognizances, obligations, and all other instruments executed 
to this State, or any subdivision or municipality thereof, before 
the ratification of this Constitution, and all fines, taxes, penalties, 
and forfeitures due and owing to this State, or any subdivision, or 
to any municipality thereof; and all writs, suits, prosecutions, 
claims and causes of action, except as herein otherwise provided, 
shall continue and remain unaffected by the ratification of this 
Constitution. All indictments which may have been found, or 
which may hereafter be found, for any crime or offence committed 
before the ratification of this Constitution, shall be proceeded 
upon in the same manner as if this Constitution had not been 
ratified. 

3. That all the executive and judicial officers, and all other 
officers in this State, who shall have been elected at the election 
held in this State, on third day of November, eighteen hundred 
and seventy- four, or who may have been appointed since that time, 
and all members of the present general assembly, and all that may 
hereafter be elected members of the present general assembly, and 
all other officers holding office at the time of the ratification of 
this Constitution, except such as hold office under any act of the 
general assembly, shall continue in office, and exercise the duties 
thereof until their respective terms shall expire, as provided by 
the present Constitution and laws of this State. 

4. This Constitution shall be submitted to the qualified elec- 
tors of this State for ratification or rejection, as authorized and 
required by an act of the general assembly of this State, entitled 
"An act to provide for the calling of a Convention to revise ami 
amend the Constitution of this State," approved nineteenth day 
of March, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventy-five. 

5. If at said election the said Constitution shall be found to 



120 CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 

have been ratified by a majority of all of the qualified electors 
voting at said election, the said new Constitution, so ratified, shall 
go into effect as the new Constitution of the State of Alabama 
within the time stated in the proclamation of the governor, and 
shall thereafter be binding and obligatory as such upon all the 
people of this State, according to the provisions of said act, ap- 
proved nineteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
five. 

6. That instead of the publication as required by section twelve 
of said act, the governor of the State is hereby authorized to take 
such steps as will give general publicity and circulation to this 
Constitution in as economical manner as practicable. 

7. That all laws requiring an enumeration of the inhabitants 
of this State during the year eighteen hundred and seventy-five 
are hereby avoided. 

8. That the board of education of this State is hereby abolished. 

9. The salaries of the executive and judicial, and all other 
officers of this State who may be holding office at the time of the 
ratification of this Constitution, and the pay of the present mem- 
bers of the general assembly shall not be affected by the provisions 
of this Constitution. 

Leroy Pope Walkek, President. 

John F. Burns, Geo. W. Delbridge, 

J. H. White, Andrew J. Ingle, 

Sumpter Lea, Frank A. Nisbet, 

Wm, A. Smith, John Gamble, 

K. A. McClellan, Isaac H. Parks, 

E. D. Willett, Henry C. Lea, 

Rufus W. Cobb, Joel D. Murphree, 

John W. Inzer, J. B. Kelly, 

Wm. G. Little, J. N. Swan, 

W. Garrett, Benj. F. Weathers, 

John Manasco, Micajah L. Davis, 

Lewis M. Stone, J. W. Jones, 

Wiley Coleman, John S. Dickinson, 



Andrew C. Hargrove, Wm. 

Evan G. Richards, P. M. Calloway, 

Henry W. Laird, John P. Ralls, M. D., 

Wm. J. O'Bannon, Wm. S. Mudd, 

Geo. S. Gullett, John A. Foster, 



CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA. 



121 



James L. Pugh, 
Jos. E. P. Flournoy, 
John D. Hudson, 
R. O. Pickett, 
Richard H. Powell, 

E. A. O'Neal, 
Thomas B. NeSmith, 
Wm. Green, 

F. W. Sykes, 

E. H. Moren, 
Wm'. C. Oates, 
Stephen C. Allgood, 
Samuel J. Boiling, 
Leroy Brewer, 
John T. Heflin, 
Julius G. Robinson, 
Samuel J. Forwood, 
John Green, 
Robert A. Long, 
Charles C. Langdon, 

F. S. Lyon, 
Henry A. Woolf, 
Wm. M. Hames, 
Thos. J. Burton, 
B. F. Johnson, 
Alburto Martin, 

Attest : Benj. H. Screws, 



R. C. Torrey, 
M. T. Akers, 
Albert W. Plowman, 
Wm. A. Musgrove, 
James D. Meadows, 
W. J. Samford, 
Geo. P. Harrison, Jr., 
John D. Rather, 
Cephas B. Taylor, 
James Aiken, 
E. A. Powell, 
A. C. Gordon, 
Cullen A. Battle, 
Jonathan Bliss, 
D. B. Booth, 
S. T. Prince, 
A. A. Sterritt, 
H. J. Livingston, 
Wm. M. Lowe, 
S. S. Scott, 
Charles Gibson, 
Thomas H. Herndon, 
Jesse E. Brown, 
David S. Nowlin, 
John H. Norwood, 
Montgomery Gilbreath. 
Secretary. 



APPENDIX. 

GOVERNORS OF THE MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY, THE ALA- 
BAMA TERRITORY, AND THE STATE OF ALABAMA. 

The Mississippi Territory. 

From To 

Winthrop Sargent of Massachusetts 1798 1801 

William Charles Cole Claiborne of Tennessee . . 1801 1805 

Robert Williams of North Carolina 1805 1809 

David Holmes of Virginia 1809 1817 

The Alabama Territory. 

William Wyatt Bibb of Georgia Mar. 1817 Nov. 1819. 

The State of Alabama. 

William Wyatt Bibb of Autauga Nov. 1 1819 July 1820. 

Thomas Bibb of Limestone July 1820 Nov. 1821. 

Israel Pickins of Greene Nov. 1821 Nov. 1825. 

John Murphy of Monroe Nov. 1825 Nov. 1829. 

Gabriel Moore of Madison Nov. 1829 Mar. 1831. 

Samuel B. Moore of Jackson Mar. 1831 Nov. 1831. 

John Gayle of Greene Nov. 1831 Nov. 1835. 

Clement Comer Clay of Madison .... Nov. 1835 July 1837. 

Hugh McVay of Lauderdale July 1837 Nov. 1837. 

Arthur Pendleton Bagby of Monroe . . Nov. 1837 Nov. 1841. 

Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Autauga . . . . Nov. 1841 Nov. 1845. 

Joshua Lanier Martin of Tuscaloosa . . . Nov. 1845 Nov. 1847. 

Reuben Chapman of Madison Nov. 1847 Nov. 1849. 

Henry Watkins Collier of Tuscaloosa . . Nov. 1849 Nov. 1853. 

John Anthony Winston of Sumter .... Nov. 1853 Nov. 1857. 

Andrew Barry Moore of Perry Nov. 1857 Nov. 1861. 

John Gill Shorter of Barbour Nov. 1861 Nov. 1863. 

Thomas Hill Watts of Montgomery . . . Nov. 1863 Apr. 1865. 

1 Governor Bibb was inaugurated as governor at Huntsville on November 9, 
1819, although the State was not formally admitted into the Union until Decem- 
ber 14, 1819. (See f 43.) 
122 



APPENDIX. 123 

[Interregnum of two months after the surrender of the military de- 
partment of the Confederate government, of which Alabama formed a 
part, to the Federal authorities. (See % 54.)] 

From To 

Lewis E. Parsons 1 of Talladega June 1865 Dec. 1865. 

Eobert Miller Patton of Lauderdale . . . Dec. 1865 July 1868. 

William H. Smith of Randolph July 1868 Dec. 1870. 

Robert Burns Lindsay of Colbert Dec. 1870 Nov. 1872. 

David P. Lewis of Madison Nov. 1872 Nov. 1874. 

George Smith Houston Nov. 1874 Nov. 1878. 

Rufus W. Cobb of Shelby Nov. 1878 Dec. 1882. 

Edward Asbury O'Neal of Lauderdale . . Dec. 1882 Dec. 1886. 

Thomas Seay of Hale Dec. 1886 Dec. 1890. 

Thomas Goode Jones of Montgomery . . . Dec. 1890 Dec. 1894. 

William C. Oates of Henry Dec. 1894 

1 Appointed provisional governor of Alabama by President Johnson. (See 

1F47.) 



124 



APPENDIX. 



Comparative View of the Population of the Sev- 
eral Counties of Alabama, according to the Cen- 
sus of 1880 and the Census of 1890. 



County. 






Autauga 
Baldwin 
Barbour 
Bibb . . 
Blount . 
Bullock . 
Butler . 
Calhoun 
Chambers 
Cherokee 
Chilton . 
Choctaw 
Clarke . 
Clay . - 
Cleburne 
Coffee . 
Colbert . 
Conecuh 
Coosa . . 
Covington 
Crenshaw 
Cullman 
Dale . . 
Dallas . 
De Kalb 
Elmore . 
Escambia 
Etowah . 
Fayette . . 
Franklin 
Geneva . 
Greene . 
Hale . . 
Henry . 
Jackson . 
Jefferson 
Lamar . 
Lauderdah 
Lawrence 









County Seat 



Prattville . 
Daphne . . 
Clayton . . 
Centreville 
Oneonta 
Union Springs 
Greenville 
Jacksonville 
La Fayette 
Centre . • 
Clanton 
Butler . . 
Grove Hill 
Ashland 
Edwardsville 
Elba . . . 
Tuscumbia . 
Evergreen 
Rock ford . 
Andalusia . 
Rutledge . 
Cullman . 
Ozark . . 
Selma . . 
Fort Payne 
Wetumpka 
Brewton . 
Gadsden . 
Fayette . . 
Belgreen . 
Geneva . . 
Eutaw . • 
Greensboro 
Abbeville . 
Scottsboro . 
Birmingham 
Vernon . . 
Florence . 
Moulton . 

Carried forward 



Population Population Increase 
in 1880. in 1890. per cent. 



13,108 

8,603 
33,979 

9,487 
15,369 
29,066 
19,649 
19,591 
23,440 
19,108 
10,793 
15,731 
17,806 
12,938 
10,976 

8,119 
16,153 
12,605 
15,113 

5,639 
11,726 

6,355 
12,677 
48,433 
12,675 
17,502 

5,719 
15,398 
10,135 

9,155 

4,342 
21,931 
26,553 
18,761 
25,114 
23,272 
12,142 
21,035 
21,392 



641,590 



13,330 
8,941 
34,898 
13,824 
21,927 
27,063 
21,641 
33,835 
26,319 
20,459 
14,549 
17,526 
22,624 
15,765 
13,218 
12,170 
20,189 
14,594 
15,906 
7,536 
15,425 
13,439 
17,225 
49,350 
21,106 
21,732 
8,666 
21,926 
12,823 
10,681 
10,690 
22,007 
27,501 
24,847 
28,026 
88,501 
14,187 
23,739 
20,725 



828,810 



1.69 

3.93 

2.70 
45.72 
42.67 

6.89* 
10.14 
72.71 
12.28 

7.07 
34.80 
11.41 
27.06 
21.85 
20.43 
49.90 
24.99 
15.78 

5.25 

33.64 

31.55 

111.47 

35.88 

1.89 
66.52 
24.17 
51.53 
42.40 
26.52 
16.67 
146.20 

0.35 
35.70 
32.44 
11.60 
280.29 
16.84 
12.85 

3.12* 



Decrease. 



APPENDIX. 



125 



County. 


County Seat 




Population 
in 1880. 


Population 
in 1890. 


Increase 
per cent. 


Br't forward . . 






641,590 


828,810 




Lee .... 




Opelika . . 






27,262 


28,694 


5.25 


Limestone . 




Athens . . 






21,600 


21,201 


1.85* 


Lowndes . . 




Hayneville 






31,176 


31,550 


1.20 


Macon . . . 




Tuskegee . 






17,371 


18,439 


6.15 


Madison . . 




Huntsville 






37,625 


38,119 


1.31 


Marengo . . 




Linden . . 






30,890 


33,095 


7.14 


Marion . . . 




Hamilton . 






9,364 


11,347 


21.18 


Marshall . . 




Guntersville 






14,585 


18,935 


29.83 


Mobile . . . 




Mobile . . 






48,653 


51,587 


6.03 


Monroe . . 




Monroeville 






17,091 


18,990 


11.11 


Montgomery- 




Montgomery 






52,356 


56,172 


7.29 


Morgan . . . 




Somerville 






16,428 


24,089 


46.63 


Perry . . . 




Marion . . 






30,741 


29,332 


4.58* 


Pickens . . . 




Carrollton 






21,479 


22,470 


4.61 


Pike ... 




Troy . . . 






20,640 


24,423 


18.33 


Kandolph . . 




Wedowee . 






16,575 


17,219 


3.89 


Kussell . . . 




Seale . . . 






24,837 


24,093 


3.00* 


St. Clair . . 




Ashville . 






14,462 


17,353 


19.99 


Shelby . . . 




Columbiana 






17,236 


20,886 


21.18 


Sumter . . . 




Livingston 






28,728 


29,574 


2.94 


Talladega . . 




Talladega 






23,360 


29,346 


25.63 


Tallapoosa . 




Dadeville 






23,401 


25,460 


8.80 


Tuscaloosa . 




Tuscaloosa 






24,957 


30,352 


21.62 


Walker . . . 




Jasper . . 






9,479 


16,078 


69.62 


Washington . 




St. Stephens 






4,538 


7,935 


74.86 


Wilcox . . 




Camden 






31,828 


30,816 


3.18* 


Winston . . 




Double Springs . 


4,253 


6,552 


54.96 


Total for the Sta 


te 






1,262,505 


1,513,017 


19.84 



Decrease. 



126 



APPENDIX. 



Cities and Towns in Alabama having a Popula- 
tion of over lOOO, according to the Census of 
1890. 



Names. 

Mobile .."■•■.- 
Birmingham . . 
Montgomery . . 
Anniston . . . 
Huntsville . . . 

Selma 

Florence .... 
Bessemer . . . 
Eufaula . . , . 
Tuscaloosa . . . 
Opelika . . . . 
Phoenix City . . 
New Decatur 
Troy . . 
Gadsden . . . . 
Greenville . . . 
Decatur . . . . 
Sheffield . . . . 
Fort Payne . . . 
Tuscumbia . . . 
Talladega . . . 
Union Springs . 
Marion .... 
Pratt Mines . . 
Demopolis . . . 
Tuskegee . . . 
Evergreen . . . 
Greensboro . . . 
Avondale . . . 
Woodlawn . . - 
Oxford .... 
Auburn . . . . 
Tallassee .... 
La Fayette . . . 

Attalla 

Jacksonville . . 

Ozark 

Eutaw 

Brewton .... 
Cullman .... 
Gainesville . . . 



Counties in which located. 
Mobile ....... 

Jefferson 

Montgomery 

Calhoun 

Madison . 

Dallas ....... 

Lauderdale ...... 

Jefferson 

Barbour 

Tuscaloosa 

Lee 

Lee . 

Morgan 

Pike 

Etowah 

Butler 

Morgan 

Colbert 

DeKalb 

Colbert 

Talladega 

Bullock 

Perry 

Jefferson 

Marengo 

Macon 

Conecuh 

Hale 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 

Calhoun 

Lee 

Elmore 

Chambers 

Etowah 

Calhoun 

Dale 

Greene 

Escambia 

Cullman 

Sumter 



Population. 
31,076 
26,178 
21,883 
9,998 
7,995 
7,622 
6,012 
4,544 
4,394 
4,215 
3,703 
3,700 
3,565 
3,449 
2,901 
2,806 
2,765 
2,731 
2,698 
2,491 
2,063 
2,049 
1,982 
1,946 
1,898 
1,803 
1,783 
1,759 
1,642 
1,506 
1,473 
1,440 
1,413 
1,369 
1,254 
1,237 
1,195 
1,125 
1,115 
1,017 
1,017 




(The numbers refer to paragraphs except where the page is indicated.) 



Adjutant-general, p. 44, n. 1 

Administrative boards and officers, 
State, 81 

Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege, 55 

Agricultural schools, 55 

Alabama-Bryce Insane Hospital, 56 

Alabama, interpretation of name, 
p. 22, n. 1 

Alabama Territory, 34-38 

Assembly, General, 63 

Attorney-general, 73 

Auditor, State, 72 

Ballot, 128, 130 

Bienville, 9-11 

Board of assessment, State, 88 

Board of equalization, county, 96 

Board of health, county, 102 

Board of health, State, 80 

Boards of revenue, county, p. 58, n. 2 

Candidates, nomination of, 124 

Capitals, State, 44 

Chancery courts, 87 

Circuit courts, 84 

Circuit solicitor, 86 

Citizen, 59 

City, 111 

City attorney, 116 

City council, 113 

City courts, 85 

City government, functions of, 112 

Civil war, 53, 54 

Clerk, city, 115 

Clerk of circuit court, 93 

Clerk of probate court, 91 



Commissioner of agriculture, 75 

Commissioners, county, 94 

Committees, 64, 65 

Constable, 107 

Constitution of Alabama, first, 39- 

42 
Constitution of Alabama, present, 

text of, pp. 79-121 
Contests of election, 134 
Conventions, 124, 125 
Convict inspectors, 79 
Coroner, 99 
County court, 91 
County officers, 89 
County organization, 89 
County-seat, 90 
County solicitor, p. 57, n. 1 
County surveyors, 101 

Deaf and dumb and blind in- 
stitutes, 56 
De Soto, 1-6 
Division of powers, 62 

Elections, 126 

Election officers, 129 

Electors, 60 

English occupancy, 13-17 

Examination of teachers, 100 

Examiner of public accounts, State, 

76 
Executive department, 67 

Framers of first constitution, 

40; p. 26, n. 1 
French exploration, 7-9 
French settlement, 9-11 

127 



128 



INDEX. 



French-Indian war, 13 ; p. 11, n. 1 
Functions of State government, 61 

General Assembly, 63 
Governor, 68, 69 

House of Representatives, 65 

Iberville, 8, 9 
Impeachment, 64, 83 
Income of the State, 88 
Inspector of mines, 77 

Judicial department, 82 
Jury commissioners, 95 
Justice of the peace, 105 

La Salle, 7, 8 
Law-making, 66 
Legislative power, 63 

Marshal, 117 

Mayor, 114 

Militia, 69 ; p. 44, n. 2 

Mississippi Territory, 21-33 

Municipal government, 109-118 

Municipal revenues, 118 

Normal schools, 55 
Notary public, 106 

Officers-elect, 133 

Parties, political, 119-123 

Party organization, 123 

Pension examiners, 103 

Poor, support of, 94 

Precinct, 104 

Primaries, 124 

Private secretary of governor, p. 

43, n. 1 
Probate judge, 91 
Public education, 42, 55, 74, 100, 108, 

112 



Railroad Commissioners, 78 
Reconstruction, 47-51 
Register in chancery, 87 
Registrars, 127 

Representatives, House of, 65 
Result of election, declaration of, 
132 

School trustees, 108 

Secession, ordinance of, 45 

Secretary of State, 70 

Senate, 64 

Settlement, first, 9, 10 

Sheriff, 92 

Spanish conquest, 18-20 

Spanish exploration, 1-6 

State executive officers, 67 

State troops, 69 

Superintendent of education, coun- 
ty, 100 

Superintendent of education, State, 
74 

Supervisors of elections, 132 

Supreme court, 83 

Taxation, 88, 94, 118 
Tax assessor, 96 
Tax collector, 97 
Town, 109 
Town officers, 110 
Township, 108 
Treasurer, county, 98 
Treasurer, State, 71 
Trustees of township, 108 

University of Alabama, 42, 55 

Veto power, 66 
Village, p. 64, n. 1. 
Voter, 60 
Voting, method of, 130 

Wards, 113 






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Easy Lessons in Natural Philosophy. 

For children. By Edwin J. Houston, A. M. 
Intermediate Lessons in Natural Philosophy. 

By Edwin J. Houston, A. M. 

Elements of Natural Philosophy. 

For Schools and Academies. By Edwin J. Houston, A. M. 

Elements of Physical Geography. New Edition. 
By Edwin J. Houston, A. M. 

Houston's New Physical Geography is the realization of what a 
text-book on this subject should be. It is a book that will 
gladden the hearts of teachers and pupils. It is concise, com- 
prehensive, up to the times, and in every respect an ideal text-book. 

Great care has been taken to avoid the mistake, common to 
most books of its class, of crowding both text and maps with a 
mass of technical detail which simply confuse and bewilder 
the pupil. As a working text-book for class-room use, Houston's 
New Physical Geography stands to-day at the head of the list of 
similar works, and is practically without a peer. 

Christian Ethics ; or, The Science of the Life of 
Human Duty. 

A New Text-Book on Moral Science. By Bev. D. S. Gregory, 
D. D., Late President of Lake Forest University, Illinois. 

Practical Logic ; or, The Art of Thinking'. 

By Eev. D. S. Gregory, D. D. 

Groesbeck's Practical Book-Keeping Series. 

By Prof. John Groesbeck, Late Prin. of the Crittenden Com- 
mercial College. In Two Volumes — viz. : 

College Edition, for Commercial Schools, Colleges, etc. 

School Edition, for Schools and Academies. 

An Elementary Algebra. 

A Text-Book for Schools and Academies. By Joseph W. Wil- 
son, A. M., Late Professor of Mathematics in the Philadelphia 
Central High School. 

The Crittenden Commercial Arithmetic and 
Business Manual. 

Designed for the use of Teachers, Business Men, Academies, 
High Schools, and Commercial Colleges. By Professor John 
Groesbeck, Late Prin. of Crittenden Commercial College. 

A Manual of Elocution and Reading. 

Founded on Philosophy of the Human Voice. By Edward 
Brooks, Ph.D., Late Prin. of State Normal School, Millers- 
ville, Pa. 



The Government of the People of the United 
United States. 

By Francis Newton Thorpe, Professor of Constitutional His- 
tory in the University of Pennsylvania. 

"If we were asked to name one book that was a fitting repre- 
sentative of the modern American text-book, we should name 
Thorpe's Civics." 
American Literature. 

A Text-Book for High Schools, Academies, Normal Schools, 
Colleges, etc. By A. H. Smyth, Prof, of Literature, Central High 
School, Philadelphia. 

The Normal English Grammar. 

By Geo. L. Maris, A. M., Principal of Friends' Central High 
School, Philadelphia. 

Intended for use in Normal Schools, High Schools, Acad- 
emies, and the higher grade of schools generally. It is not a 
book for pupils beginning the study of English grammar. 

The Model Definer. 

A Book for Beginners, containing Definitions, Etymology, and 
Sentences as Models, exhibiting the correct use of Words. By 
A. C. Webb. 

The Model Etymology. 

Containing Definitions, Etymology, Latin Derivatives, Sen- 
tences as Models, and Analysis. With a Key containing the 
Analysis of every word which could present any difficulties to 
the learner. By A. C. Webb. ■ - 

A Manual of Etymology. 

Containing Definitions, Etymology, Latin Derivatives, Greek 
Derivatives, Sentences as Models, and Analysis. With a Key 
containing the Analysis of every word which could present any 
difficulties to the learner. By A. C. Webb. 

First Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene. 

With special reference to the Effects of Alcohol, Tobacco, etc. 
By Charles K. Mills, M. D. 

First Lessons in Natural Philosophy. 

For Beginners. By Joseph C. Martindale, M. D. 

A Hand-Book of Literature, 1 English 
A Short Course in Literature, J American. 

By E. J. Trimble, Late Professor of Literature, State Normal 
School, West Chester, Pa. 

Short Studies in Literature, English and American, 

By A. P. Southwick, A. M. 

4 



A Hancl-Book of Mythology. 

By S. A. Edwards, Teacher of Mythology in the Girls' Normal 
School, Philadelphia. 

3000 Practice Words. 

By J. Willis Westlake, A. M., Late Professor in State Normal 
School, Millersville, Pa. Contains lists of Familiar Words often 
Misspelled, Difficult Words, Homophonous Words, Words often 
Confounded, Eules for Spelling, etc. 

In the School- Room ; 

Or, Chapters in the Philosophy of Education. Gives 
the experience of nearly forty years spent in school- room work. 
By John S. Hart, LL.D. 

Our Bodies. 

By Charles K. Mills, M. D., and A. H. Leuf, M. D. A series 
of five charts for teaching Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene, 
and showing the Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body. 

The Model Pocket-Register and Grade-Book. 

A Boll-Book, Record, and Grade-Book combined. Adapted to 
all grades of Classes, whether in College, Academy, Seminary, 
High or Primary School. 

The Model School Diary. 

Designed as an aid in securing the co-operation of parents. It 
consists of a Record of the Attendance, Deportment, Recita- 
tions, etc., of the Scholar for every day. At the close of the 
week it is to be sent to the parent or guardian for examination 
and signature. 

The Model Monthly Report. 

Similar to the Model School Diary, excepting that it is intended 
for a Monthly instead of a Weekly report of the Attendance, 
Recitations, etc. of the pupil. 

The Model Roll-Book, No. 1. 

The Model Roll-Book, No. 2. 

The Model Roll-Book, No. 1, is so ruled as to show at a 
glance the record of a class for three months, allowing five 
weeks to each month, with spacing for weekly, monthly, and 
quarterly summary, and a blank space for remarks at the end 
of the quarter. 

The Model Roll-Book, No. 2, is arranged on the same 
general plan, as regards spacing, etc., excepting that each page 
is arranged for a mouth of five weeks; but, in addition, the 
names of the studies generally pursued in schools are printed 
immediately following the name of the pupil, making it more 
5 



convenient when it is desirable to have a record of all the 
studies pursued by a pupil brought together in one place. 
4®=" Specimen Sheets sent by Mail on Application. 

Manuals for Teachers. 

A Series of Hand-Books comprising five volumes — viz : 

1. On the Cultivation of the Senses. 
3. On the Cultivation of the Memory. 

3. On the Use of Words. 

4. On Discipline. 

5. On Class Teaching. 



We shall be gratified to have teachers correspond with us. We offer 
some of the best of Modern Text-BooTcs, and shall be glad at any time 
to make liberal arrangements for their introduction, or to exchange for 
others that do not give satisfaction. Please address 

Eldredge & Brother, 

17 North Seventh Street, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

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